Digimon: DigiWorld Online
by Fan Rider Ryu
Summary: In an AU, where the first Virtual Reality MMORPG is based on Digimon, what could possibly go wrong? It's just a game, right? Mainly OC's, TV show characters will appear in later chapters. Rated M for language, situations, and teenager relationships.
1. Chapter 1: Logging On

01/10/2012

Digimon: Digi-World Online

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor never plan to own Digimon, the anime, the video games, the card game, etc. This is pure, fan-based, ridiculous fun meant to be shared with similar fans.

FanAuther's Note: In this Fanfic, Digimon Tamers was not shown as the third season in this universe. I do not hate Digimon Tamers, and this does not mean it didn't happen. I'll leave that as a surprise for later. I mostly chose to do this to give the characters no idea how to work the Digi-modify cards and the style the Tamers of the show used.

Chapter 1: Logging On

* * *

><p>New York, Times Square, 12:10 p.m.

The arcade had been open for hours now, since around 9 o'clock, and there was still a massive crowd of people trying to force their way in. Who could really blame them? Inside lay the first of many virtual realities MMORPG's and this feature the ever so popular **Digimon** series. Sure, many people, even in this crowd, felt that the show was little more than a rip-off of Pokémon, but for a chance to experience a virtual reality, many fanboys left their prejudices' at home. Or they didn't, seeing as they could simply Troll the entire time they were online.

On the outer rim of the huge crowd, a teenaged African-American boy and his middle-school wheel chaired brother were making their way to the mass of eager fans. The teenager had on a black shirt with Superman symbol in the middle, a metal bracelet on his left arm, black cargo shorts, and some Nikes that seemed to be styled after a certain hedgehog's footwear. He also had on him a green backpack and a black and silver gym bag and green and silvers suitcase. The boy in the wheel chair was wearing a simple sweater and a blanket over his legs. He looked up at his older brother, puppy-eyes at full power. "Colin, are you sure you still have him? Mom's gonna be mad if we have to go all the way back to get him."

The teenager, Colin, ruffled up his little brother's hair and smiled down at him, pulling out his gift Virtual Pet. "He's right here, Jack. I'm not going to come all this way and ditch the present you got me at home. It's Wawamon, right?"

The little boy pouted "Wanyamon, his name is Wanyamon. Jeez, going to the Digital World and he can't even get his partner's name right. Just don't embarrass me in front of the other players, please?"

"Wouldn't dream of it." Jack looked like he another thing to say, but Colin spoke before he got the chance, "And yes, I remembered to bring the ticket and pass for a full year of playing time. I'm not that useless." He grinned a wolfish smile down at his younger sibling.

"Of course you're not. You're the best brother I could ask for." He reached over and hugged Colin's waist. "I just wish I could go with you."

They had made their way through the crowd now, what with none of the bystanders wanting to be responsible for knocking over a handicapped child. The crowd did, however, mutter amongst themselves. '_Why does the cripple get to go first?' 'We've been here for hours, lucky brat.' 'VR ain't gonna actually make your legs work, twerp.'_ Further gossip was for the most part discouraged by the rather savage look Colin gave to anyone he heard bad-mouthing his brother. The two finally made their way over to the hotel that lay next to the arcade, the **Cyber Sheep**. It was set up so that long time players could make it to their reserved seat without having to battle the crowds outside. In front of the hotel stood some rather annoyed looking security guards. Colin stepped up to one and showed his ticket and pass. The guard gave it a quick look through, and then stared at Colin. "You Colin Ursa?"

"Yes sir."

"Don't look like much like the other rabid fans."

"My brother," he nodded in Jack's direction, "is a fan, but due to your safety regulation regarding the disabled, he gave me his coupon and asked I play in his stead."

"I see. Do you have any luggage with you?" the guard made a hand motion, and two bell boys with a trolley came forward. "These guys will handle that for you and show you to an open room."

Colin gave his bags to the bell boys, then turned to his little brother and gave him another wolfish grin. "I'll call every other day, and tell you what it's like in there. I'll probably spend most of the time asking you for advice."

Jack grinned back, "You wouldn't last a day with me coaching you."

The bell boys were beginning to look impatient, so Colin turned to follow them into the hotel, but then turned around again and began to walk backwards while calling out to Jack. "Any advice you have for my first day, little bro?"

"Yes! Play with Wanyamon! Don't just feed and clean him and expect him to like you! Be nice!"

"No promises!"

* * *

><p>Cyber Sheep Floor 7, 12:19 p.m.

"Here is your room sir. Please enjoy your stay," the bell boys departed, leaving Colin with his bags and card key in front of his room, number 418.

He slid his card through slot on the door handle, and walked in carrying his entire luggage.

"Hello, anyone here yet?"

A husky, kind voice replied back from inside the bathroom, located to left of Colin as he entered the room. "Da, pleased to meet you roommate. Give me a second to freshen up, and I'll come formally meet you."

The door slid open to reveal a tall, brown haired Caucasian young adult of about 21, wearing a grey singlet and khaki shorts, who was wiping his hair with a towel while giving his roommate a look over.

"Need some help with your bags, friend?"

Colin smiled a little but shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. Name's Colin, what's yours?"

"Call me Dmitri. I took the bed by the window, if you don't mind."

"Both are an equal distance for the TV, so nope. I'm good. Hey, do you know if we have to pay for Wi-Fi here?"

It was Dmitri's turn to smile. "Well, yes, except in two cases. A: you go down to the lobby and use the free computers, which will have a long line any time of day and a limited time of use, so they're barely worth it. Or B: have a tech expert as a roommate who can get you access in his sleep. Luckily for you, you have option B."

"Really?" Colin raised an amused eyebrow at this. "I can see why you would want to play this game then. Tech expert, eh?"

Dmitri scratched his head in embarrassment and chuckled a bit. "Ah, it's no big deal really. And yeah, I really would love to know how the VR in this game works. That and I'm a bit of a Digimon lover myself. Watched the first two seasons back home as a kid, before coming here."

"Where you from?"

"Moscow."

"Russia? Why didn't you just Japan then? They of course have a station of their own, and they'd be a lot closer to home."

"Yeah, but they don't have a better McDonald's, and I was really interested in trying something other than a Hamburger Royal TS while playing."

"…Wha-"

Dmitri pretended to have just noticed the time and headed off toward the door. "Oh look at the time. We better get down to the lobby and register for our Five hours of initial play then. Hurry hurry." With that, he just sprinted out the door, papers in hand.

Colin just looked at the vacant doorway for a second, then shook his head in amusement and got his papers and Virtual Pet. "Okay, so the guy wanted to come to New York real bad. Not gonna discourage a visitor." He followed his new found friend out the door, being sure to take his key card with him and shutting the door.

/Cyber Sheep Main Lobby, 12:30

**Attention all Hotel Residents participating in Digi-World Online! Please remember to show your registration forms and Id to the designated event personnel! They will supply you with your proper yearlong Id pass, which will be easier for you to remember and carry around!**

"Could the guy be any louder? A simple sign on the wall would do," asked Colin, earning a giggle from some of the girls behind him in line. He was two people away from the registration desk. Now there was only one person. Finally, it was his turn to be registered.

"Please show your forms and Id, sir."

"Here's the application, the yearlong pass, and my student Id."

"Thank you." The receptionist simply scanned all the papers and Colin's Id through some sort of machine '_looks like a fax machine'_ though Colin, and handed back his student Id and a proper game pass. "Here you are. Your forms will be sent back up to your room, securely and with your privacy respected, and you can reach the arcade through those doors to your right. Enjoy your time playing Digi-World Online."

"Thanks beautiful, I be sure to do so," this got the receptionist blushed at this, and slid Colin a card along with his other items. '_And another heart enchanted by yours truly. Damn, I'm bad!'_

He headed towards the aforementioned doors, and once inside was taken aback by the magnificence of what he saw. Three whole floors lined with hi-tech arcade chairs and the machines connected to them, a small café on the ground floor and, corny as it seems, a small movie lounge playing what was now season three of Digimon, Digimon Frontier. The top two floors had balconies that allowed people from the ground floor to see what's up there. Colin saw Dmitri, who was waving him up his way.

"Guess I better stick with him," he patted his pocket, making sure the Virtual Pet was indeed still there, and went up the stairs to the second floor.

"Hey, I saved you a station. Thought you'd want a run through on how to use one," said Dmitri, once Colin maneuvered his way to him.

"Thanks, I could use some help figuring this thing out."

"It's really quite interesting once you get into it. First off, do you have a Virtual Pet Digimon?"

Colin pulled out his VP, showing a snoozing Wanyamon.

"Excellent, then you can just copy me exactly." Dmitri pulled out his own, his display a floating fiery creature smiling craftily. "Insert your VP here, in this slot in your chair. Then close the top over it, securing your VP inside until you leave your chair and are done playing for the day. This is so that no one steals your Digimon while you're off in Virtual Reality."

"Makes sense. Wait, is there a password I need to input or something."

"Better than that, your pass, which you should attach to your left arm using that strap," he pointed at the pass sticking out of Colin pocket, "will also be inserted into your chair, in the little slot there on its left. Now all you need to do is sit on you chair and put on the VR helmet and headphones."

Colin proceeded to do as instructed, and upon putting on the helmet, his vision was assaulted be a flurry of passing colors and lights before a computer voice spoke to him.

**Hello. Welcome to Digi-World Online! Before we send you to the Digital World for your fun adventure, there's just this one thing.**

Colin, assuming he was to respond, asked "What is it?"

**You're naked. You need to choose some clothing, a stylish outfit in order to proceed.**

"What!" sure enough, when Colin looked down (if you consider looking at your lower regions in a formless void "down") he was naked, albeit in the anime style of censoring the naughty bits. "Okay, so give me some options, please."

**Very well.**

A screen popped out of nowhere, displaying different articles of clothing.

"Okay, let's see what we got here."

Sorting through the screen's option with simple hand waves and thoughts, Colin selected a lax black vest, like the ones school's with uniforms would issue, a red tie, khaki cargo shorts, and a red wooly hat. For the finishing touch, he added a pair of red and silver Nikes.

"Can I have a mirror?"

**Of Course.**

A reflective surface appeared before Colin, and he gave himself a look over. "It'll do for now. Anything else I should know before we continue?"

**Oh yes, the most important part. Have you actually seen the Original Season of Digimon?**

"A little bit, when my brother had it on, why?"

**Oh, nothing really. We just like to allow players to make it to File Island the way the Original group did.**

Colin raised an eyebrow at this. "How did they make it?"

The computer voice gave a sinister chuckle.

**By Falling.**

The lad suddenly felt gravity return to him, and began to descend rapidly.

"AAAHhhhhhhhhhhh!"

* * *

><p>Digi-World File Island, 1st Hour

On a lonely island, with a massive mountain jutting out of its center, a little village of Baby and In-training Digimon bounced about, waiting for their partners to come. In this buddle of bouncing heads and little creatures, there were an assortment of Tokomon, Bokamon, Yokomon, Tusnemon, and the many more too long to list. Amongst them, however, hopped about a lone, blue cat head-looking creature, with stripes and a blue M featured on its forehead. He watched as a bunch of other In-trainings were scooped up by their new arriving, falling partners. The little blue furball began to look worried. _I know mine's coming, but does he have to take so long getting here?_

All of a sudden, the little Digimon felt a prickly feeling run through it, and he instinctively looked towards the heavens. He was greeted with the sight of a small twinkle in the sky, which steadily grew larger and larger, until he could make out a humanoid form making its tumbling descent.

"He's here! Hey Partner, over here!" the little head began to bop up and down, trying to direct the descending boy to his position, bouncing his way out of the village. Unfortunately, he seemed to be heading exactly that way. The little Digimon's eyes widen when he realized the boy wasn't slowing down.

AAAAAAHHHHHH!

A little crater formed on the outskirts of Primary Village. The little blue head felt a little dazed, and was swinging back and forth on top of some teenager.

"Hey, little buddy. You mind getting off of me?"

This stirred the cat like Digimon back to its senses. It looked down at the boy whose chest he had just landed on, and upon recognizing him, bounced up and down with glee. "It's you, it's you, it's you! You came!"

The boy got off his back and cupped the little blue head in his hands, checking him over before it dawned on him. "Wait, you're my Wanyamon?"

Wanyamon appeared hurt by his partner's lack of recognition. "You didn't know?"

The boy saw how disappointed the little cat thing looked, and gave a reassuring smile as he sat him down and patted his head. "Hey, I just fell out of the sky. Everything's a little blurry to me right now. Sides, the V-Pet didn't do you justice; you weren't blue on screen, and not nearly as cuddly."

The little blue cat brightened up at this, and took that to be permission to nuzzle his partner, purring all the while.

The boy smiled a little as he took the little guy off of him and held him. "You're just in need of attention, aren't you? I see that hasn't changed, you always seemed hungry in the V-Pet."

As if on cue, the little Wanyamon's stomach began to grumble. Wanyamon blushed a little at this, and the teenager just chuckled, "Well, let's see if we can get you some food in the village for starters. Can't start this game with you on an empty stomach, now can we?"

Taking the little blue furball under one arm, he strode off towards the entrance of the village.

"Game, what game, partner?"

"Digi-World Online, the game we're, sorry I'm playing. Don't they let all you guys know when they programmed you?"

The little head just looked more confused. "When who programmed me? What are you talking about, partner?"

The boy let out a little sigh. _Huh, the designers probably wanted to the game to feel more like the show or something, so our Digimon partners don't know their part of a game. Not that they really think, they're just talkative programs, after all_. He looked over at a little boy who was playing with his little Tusnemon, who kept giving the same automated cry of 'Come on, can't you catch me'. _Wonder how many programmed responses my little guy has_.

"Never mind. Oh yeah, Wanyamon. One more thing"

"Yeah, partner?"

"Just call me Colin. No need to keep calling me partner."

"Kay, Colin. Where we going?"

Colin looked around the village, and spotted what looked like the tallest hut in town, with a little crib carved into the wood of the door. "How about in there? Looks important enough, and whoever's in charge will probably have info on what our first mission or whatever is?"

Wanyamon bounced out of Colin's grip and looked up at his partner, confused yet again. "Mission-or-watever, what's that? Is it fun?"

Colin scratched the back of his head, trying to think how to explain this without seeming to Meta in his explanation. "Well you see, there are people who probably need help, and strong guys like us are supposed to give it. You know, fight off mean Digimon or something. Like Etamon or Malomymon."

"That would be 'Etemon' and 'MaloMyotismon' whose names you just butchered."

The two partners turned in the direction of the new voice, and saw a girl of about Colin's age (if not a bit shorter than him), of Japanese descent walking towards them, a little blue furball of her own being cradled in her arms, only this one had a more fox like tail and a metal helmet on. The girl had on some rather short adventure shorts on, like the ones action heroines wore when out in some jungle, and some simple sandals on her feet. For a top, she had on black workout shirt, with a little silver necklace lining her neck, and some brown gloves, as well as some device strapped to her left arm, like the passes given to player in the real world. Her most distinctive features were on her face, however. Her eyes were a warm brown, seeming to shine above her little nose, and her hair was done in little pigtails, both dyed red except for the tips, revealing her natural brown hair. Behind her was a more familiar face, Dmitri, who was being followed by what looked like a floating fireball with a stitched mouth. Dmitri seemed to have garbed himself in a typical train conductor's outfit; gray overalls, blue jeans and a red shirt underneath it all.

"Uh, hi there. Dmitri, who's your friend here?" Colin was trying not to look too stunned at how cute the girl before him looked. Wanyamon was looking to and fro, from Colin to the new arrivals, and trying to understand what was going on.

"Who's Dmitri? And what's a Etemon or MaloMyotismon?" too much happening at once for the little blue cat, and he seemed to be overwhelmed with all the new people who had just started talking to him.

The girl set down her own partner, and bent down to pat Wanyamon on the head and try to explain, "Well little guy, Dmitri would be this big guy over here I guess. I didn't get his name beforehand. As for whom those other two we mentioned before are, you needn't worry your little head about them. Just know they're bad Digimon, and you shouldn't act anything like them. Okay?" she put on a sweet little smile, and Wanyamon melted upon sight of it.

"Okay lady, I won't be like Etamon or Malomymon."

"Etemon and Malo- never mind. So long as you understand," she stood back up, taking her partner back into her arms, and faced Colin. "As for who I am, name's Asami Kaneko. Pleased to meet you." She looked over Colin, and smiled seductively. "Very pleased indeed."

Colin blushed a little, the recomposed himself. "Right back at ya. Asami huh? Know where I can get one of those?" He pointed at the device on Asami's left arm.

"What, the digivices? They're over in that hut you were heading for…" she stopped, than gave Colin a look he couldn't quite identify the emotion behind it. "You really don't know what you're doing, do you?"

He got a little defensive at this. "I'm getting along well enough."

Asami raised her hands in apology "Hey I'm just call them as I see them, that's all. I'm just offering my help, if you want it."

Colin loosened up a bit, "Sorry, just I feel so out of it here. And yeah, your help would be great. So long as I'm not taking away your playing time."

She smiled at this "It's perfectly okay, I'm taking my time. I'm in no rush to face off with an Ultimate-level anytime soon."

"Thanks. Well, better go inside now. Dmitri, you comin-" Colin turned towards the hut's door, and saw that Dmitri was already at the entrance.

The tall boy turned around "Oh, you're both done greeting each other. Didn't want to interrupt, so I thought I'd go ahead and get my D-Arc now."

Colin looked just as confused as his partner was a moment ago, "D-Arc? Aren't there digivice things I there?"

"This model of digivice is called a D-Arc. They're the unused model that was supposed to be in that cancelled season: Digimon Tamers."

The name brought back a memory, "Oh yeah, my little brother had mentioned that before. He said the producers thought it was too dark for kids. He really didn't seem to like the idea of them cancelling it, though."

Dmitri nodded "Yeah, very few people were. The promos showed great promise. You know, for a cartoon show. Ah well, the Digimon they didn't end up using for the show ended up here in the game. I hear they gave them special story-based mission for players to beat. But enough on that for now-" He turned back around and walked through the door, "Let's go get our digivices."

Colin looked down at his partner, "Well, let's not keep him waiting. Come on, Wanyamon." He scooped him into his arms again and headed after his friend.

Inside the hut, it appeared to have modeled after some old tavern found in the Middle Ages, with what looked like a bar off to the left and dozens of tables scattered across the room. At the back was a door that leads to what looked like a council room. That's where Dmitri was headed for, so Colin and Wanyamon followed after him. Inside the room sat five little red rabbit looking Digimon, one of them in the middle squatting on some sort of throne.

"Welcome, Player Dmitri," said the one to the left and closest to the door.

"Welcome, Player Colin Ursa," said another one, who was to the right of the same door.

"We thank you for choosing to play Digi-World Online, and will be here to assist you for the duration of your stay on File Island. We are the Elecmon Elders of this village, known as Primary Village. Now, we will present you your D-Arcs."

This came from the Elecmon on the throne, who motioned for the two Elecmon at his side. They scurried off to a drawer at the right side of the room, and both of them came back with two little devices, as well as what look like to packets of cards. They both handed the cards and devices to Dmitri and Colin, Dmitri immediately turning over and inspecting his once it was in his grasp.

Colin was more intrigued by the card back, but said "So this is my Digivice then?"

"A D-Arc digivice, yes." This again came from the head Elecmon.

"So what are the cards for? Please don't tell me their some side-quest I'll have to complete before entering some new area."

This got a chuckle from a hidden figure, who strode into the room behind Colin and replied "No, no. They're actually a lot more useful than you think, aren't they _boss_?"

Colin spun around a saw it was yet another Elecmon, only this one had a rather realistic sneer on its face. He then realized that the _boss_ he was addressing was the Elecmon Head.

"Anomaly, what are you doing in here?" replied the Head, whose face remained the same calm and friendly way it had greeting the two players.

"What, the former sixth Elecmon Elder can't come visit? Afraid I might cause the others to become more than just automated greeting cards like me?"

"If you've come to disrupt these players' experience-" the Head Elecmon started to charge up with electricity, getting on all fours and fanning its tail out, "then we shall remove you from the game. Permanently."

The rouge Elecmon chuckled again. "Don't get your feathers in a bunch. I'm here just to fulfill my Elder duties of instructing new players, one more time. If that isn't too much of a problem for your bosses."

The Head Elecmon froze, its eyes going blue and numbers could be seen scrolling down, as if something was interfering with it. It then returned to normal and replied, "Just know that we'll be keeping an eye out on you. You may proceed."

Both Colin and Dmitri looked at one another, then at the new Elecmon.

Colin spoke first, "Uh, okay. So, are we going to be clued in on what just happened here, or should we just pretend that's part of the game's story?"

The Elecmon smirked, "Maybe I'll tell, and maybe I won't. More importantly, let's get you up to speed before my old friends decide they have enough free will to choose to deep fry me impulsively."

"Okay, fine. So, the cards."

"Right, the Battle Cards. A feature that originally was going to be in the cancelled Tamers season, but as you well know never got to see the light of day. Until now. The idea is to give you, a Tamer, the ability to aid your Digimon in battle with power ups and weapons they normally would have access to. It also allows skilled Tamers to Digivolve their partners, without any of that silly crest and feelings crap from the first two seasons."

Dmitri was taken a little aback by the 'crest and feelings crap' remark, "I can see why they fired your operator, if that's how you refer to Toei's work."

Elecmon raised an eyebrow at this, "You think I have an operat- you know what? Let's just keep talking about the gameplay before I have the urge to zap you."

Moving on, he continued "Okay, Colin is it? Open up your packet and see what cards you got."

He did so, as saw that he only had five cards inside. Two of them with the images of Digimon on them, "It this it?"

He bent over so that the Elecmon could view them, and it shrugged as it replied, "Hey, you're a beginner. That's a pretty good booster pack to start off with as it is. Right Dmitri, your go now-"

Further conversation was cut short by the sound of screaming outside. The two boys gave each other look, before grabbing their little partners (or in Dmitri's case, guiding him out, as he was in no rush to grab hold of a floating fireball) and dashing outside the hut. Elecmon looked back at the Elders, a look of annoyance etched over his face, before following the two.

Upon getting out the door, they both saw what the problem was. A gang of green and red goblin looking Digimon, about 5 in total (3 green and 2 red), were harassing some new Tamers and their partners. The apparent ringleader was waving his club right at a little Yokomon.

"Look at the little baby. Waiting for a filthy human master, now are we?"

Colin gritted his teeth at this. He remembered human punks like this who would harass his brother at school, treating him like crap because he was handicapped. As if it was his fault or like he deserved to be treated like that by them. Colin has a very low tolerance for bullies of any kind. _Did the developers really have to go and make bad guys as asshole-ish as these guys?_ He spotted a rock at his feet. Grabbing it, he flung it right at the lead goblin Digimon's head.

**Smack!**

"Hey, Norman Osborn rejects! Leave the little guy alone!"

The rock certainly got the Digimon's attention, and gripping the side of his head where the rock had impacted, he yelled back, "You got some stones, messing with the Goblimon crew like that! You wanna die, soft skin?"

The gang of Goblimon and yet unidentified red equivalents were all pounding their clubs into their hand in a threating manner, and started to move towards Colin and Dmitri. Colin didn't as much as flinch, just staring at the oncoming threats.

Wanyamon bounded up to the lead Goblimon, and then just seemed to smile pleasantly at it.

"**Smile Fang"**

Wanyamon bit onto the Goblimon's hand, causing it to wail and howl. "Whose partner do you think you're calling a soft skin, ugly?"

"Wanyamon, what are you doing? Get back here!" Colin's composure broke when he was the little guy struggling to keep latched on to the Goblimon's hand.

"Get, OFF! **Gobli Strike!**" With its free hand, the Goblimon struck Wanyamon with its bone club.

The little Digimon went flying back into Colin's arms, who caught him and stroked his head (well, top of his body, as all he really is is a head). "You crazy little scrapper, you. That guy is three times your size. Why'd you pick a fight with him?"

Wanyamon gave a weak smile, looking up at Colin and replying back "Why did you? That Yokomon's not yours, yet you felt like helping her out. I just chose to do the same."

"Her?"

"Yeah, Yokomons are female. Didn't you know?"

"Not that knowledgeable on Digimon, if you hadn't noticed."

The Goblimon was cupping his bitten hand, and glared in the two's direction, "I'm going to use your skin as a blanket, human!"

Stretching out both his arms in front of him, a small round ball covered in spikes materialized before him. He then struck the ball with his club, "**Gobli Bomb!**"

The spiked orb hurled through the air towards its victims, exploding in the air in front of them. Colin and Wanyamon were sent flying backwards, colliding with an invisible barrier.

"Aghh!" Colin slumped up against the barrier, nursing his right shoulder as a trickle of blood dripped down from where one of the bomb's spikes had imbedded in his flesh.

"Uh!" Wanyamon was struggling to position itself upright, when he noticed his partner's right arm was bleeding. "Colin, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. What did we bump into?"

The Goblimon was approaching them, a sneer on his face, "The barrier that keeps outsiders from interrupting our battle. You know, so that people don't run away, or steal other people's kills," He raised his club overhead, roaring "LIKE MINE! **GOBLI STRIKE!**"

The club came down like lighting, aiming for Colin's head. Instead, it connected with a leaping, blue furball.

"Wanyamon!" Colin glared at the tusked-bully, "You bastard, he's a little cub!"

The Goblimon snorted, "Punk bit me first. Sides, if you weren't hiding behind him to begin with, you might have spared him the pain, _human_!" he spat out the last word like it was venom. "This time I'll be sure to get you. **Gobli Str**-"

He never got to finish calling out his attack, because a fist had suddenly planted itself through his teeth, and he was currently sailing through the air to the other side of the enclosed 'arena'. Colin had bolted up and landed a haymaker with his uninjured arm.

"Who's hiding, Shrek?"

**STATUS****: GOBLIMON HEALTH DOWN BY 5 POINTS. 25 POINTS OF HEALTH REMAINING.**

Colin looked around, wondering where that voice had come from. He then looked at the Digivice, the D-Arc, strapped onto his left arm, and saw the text that repeated what he had just heard. _So, this thing does more than just look stylish._

"Colin! Quit dicking around and digivolve Wanyamon. He won't last much longer as an In-Training!" shouted Elecmon, who somehow Colin could hear through the barrier.

It just occurred to Colin that he hadn't heard anyone say or do anything after Wanyamon bit Goblimon. Not Dmitri or Asami, nor the Goblimon's gang. He didn't hear a thing. _What is up with this invisible wall?_

"Elecmon, how do I do that? Don't I need a crest or something for that?"

"Baihumon dammit, kid. Did you even LOOK at the cards?" The Goblimon was recovering quickly, and charging for Wanyamon

Colin pulled out his five cards and gave them a look over. _Power Strike? No, not the one he's looking for. Hyper Speed? Maybe later. Where is the one I…_ He spotted the one marked 'Digivolution'.

"What about this 'Digivolution' card? What do I do with it?" The Goblimon was only a few feet away from his target.

"Swipe the card through your D-Arc's card slot! NOW!" The Goblimon towered over the still weary Wanyamon.

Colin ran the card through his D-Arc almost by instinct, not even fumbling around to find the slot. The D-Arc's computer voice chimed out the effect.

**Digivolution Activate**

Wanyamon started to glow with a yellowish light, stopping the Goblimon mid-swing out of shock.

Wanyamon…digivolve to…**Kumamon**

From where a little, furry ball of blue once lay, a cub sized bear Digimon, garbed in a blue hat and arm straps stood, grinning at the bewildered Goblimon.

"Okay Shrek, ready for round 2?"

The Goblimon could only blink at Kumamon in surprise at first, but then he bared his tusks and barked, "So you grew a little. Your still a shrimp compared to true Digimon, pet."

"Wanna bet?" Kumamon had on the most confident smirk plastered on his face. "Come on, I'll give you the first swing."

This made Goblimon laugh. "Hah, 'first swing'? I've been the only dishing out punishment all day. But if you insist…" He raised his club overhead once more, "**Gobli Str-**"

"**Bear-cub Fist!**"

For the second time that day, poor little Goblimon couldn't bring down his spiked club on a victim's head. And again, his 'victim' had decked him right in the mouth. Only this time, it was a Digimon striking him. As a result, his favorite tusks were shattered upon impact with the furry little fist. And he was sent spinning out of the barrier, which appeared to come down as soon as Kumamon struck him.

Colin stood still, watching the scene in stunned silence. The little furball he was cradling not a moment before, had just sent that marauding punk sailing. And he looked fine, considering the knocking about Goblimon had given him before. He noticed his D-Arc was 'speaking' again, and so decided to look to see what was on the screen, since he had missed most of it.

**Battle Concluded. Tamer and Partner are Victorious. Kumamon set to default level, EXP raised by 10 points. Combat Zone disengaged.**

_So this things responsible for trapping us with that bastard._ Colin gave his digivice a dirty look, but quickly got over it when he suddenly was tackled by his new furry friend.

"Hey Colin, did you see me, did you see me? I was totally kicking his ass!"

"Yeah, buddy I saw yah. You did good Wanya- sorry, its Kumamon now, right?" As his partner nodded, Colin thought to himself, _He's a lot more bold and talkative now, isn't he?_

They both started to notice some things now that the barrier was down. First off, the other players were all talking amongst themselves, seemingly about what the two off them had just done. Comments like 'Did that bear just say 'ass'? I thought Digimon couldn't curse,' and 'One Punch! Did you see, just One Punch!' could be heard all around. Second thing they noticed is that the Goblimon's gang was more concerned with nursing their ringleader than retaliating, and some of them even looked like they were afraid of the idea of taking on the little bear. The gang took their thrashing boss, who was cupping his mouth and trying to keep the fragments of his disassembling tusks from leaving, and ran out of the town. One of the red Goblimon, however, turned around about half way down the road leading out the village and shouted "You just marked yourself, Baloo! The 'Orgemon Brothers' do not take assaults on their brothers lightly. We'll be coming for you!" with that, he turned and rejoined his retreating gang.

"Well, I can see you're already making friends." Colin and Kumamon turned around to see that it was Dmitri, who was grinning a bit.

"Could have used your help back there, you know."

"Hey, rules state that if unless both of us declare battle with a wild Digimon, combat goes to first attacker. Besides, you've demonstrated to the rest of us," Dmitri swung his hands around, pointing out the crowd that was previously surrounding the barrier, "how battle are conducted here. Thank you, I've learned a lot from your…example."

Colin let all of this sink in, and while he was a little hurt by this, he grinned none the less. "You rat bastard, you used me like a damn guinea pig."

Asami, who was also still standing nearby, piped in, "Hey now, if you didn't go all cowboy on the buy and waited for someone to back you up, maybe you two wouldn't have been alone tackling that Digimon."

"True."

Elecmon, who was also still hanging around, impatiently tapped its feet (well, back feet) and waited for the three to finish conversing. When he seemed sure they were done going over the battle amongst themselves, he spoke up. "That. Was the. Sloppiest. First. Battle. I have ever. Seen."

This got a little frown from Colin, "Hey, it IS my first Digimon battle, what do you want? We're not some instant expert or fighting genius. I'm a high-schooler, and he's a silly old bear."

"Hey!"

"Regardless," Elecmon looked at all three Tamers before him, and then continued on, "you really need to get somewhat up to speed if you want your 'silly old bear' to survive long. Don't you know what level that Goblimon was in comparison to Wanyamon?"

"Um, no. Wasn't really that into Digimon back at home."

Elecmon's ears perked up alert, "Wha… then why- why would you even sign up for this game then?"

"My younger brother asked me to. He's more knowledgeable than I am on the franchise"

"Well why isn't he here?"

"Health. Issues. Wanna ask more personal questions, or can we drop it at 'I'm new to this'?"

Elecmon saw that he had touched a nerve, "Sorry, I shouldn't have pushed the issue. But you really do need to get up to speed on Digimon in general. Can't have you challenge freaking Piedmon on your first week and getting creamed, now can we?"

Asami spoke up at this point, "I'm a bit of a Digimon otaku, I could bring him up to speed."

This caused Colin to raise an eyebrow, "Thanks, but why'd you want to help a noob like me? Don't you want to spend your first hours online by yourself?"

"Please, I've got plenty of time for that, don't we Kapurimon?" the little helmeted Wanyamon look-a-like sleepily nodded from with Asami's rucksack, "Besides," she gave Colin a flirtatious wink, "Can't have you cute guys wandering foolishly about the island with no clue of what you're doing. You'll just end up getting these little guys hurt," she scooped up Kumamon in her arms and nuzzled him, causing the bear to blush happily. "There's no way I could let that happen."

Dmitri and Colin shared an amused look, "What you think Dmitri? Not a bad idea to have some sort of guide while we're here, right?"

Dmitri shrugged, "You want to form some sort of group? Sure, why not. But no corny team name, or DemiMeramon and I are out."

Elecmon gave a cough, and then when their attention was turned towards him he spoke. "Before you go 'off to see the Wizard' or whatever, let's finish up the tutorial we were so rudely interrupted from. As you all may have noticed, the cards you have are more than just collectible trinkets. They can be used to benefit your Digimon. When Colin used the Digivolution card, you saw that his partner digivovled. Similar things happen with your other cards. Take for example," he fished out an Agumon from out of nowhere, and handed it to Colin. "-cards with Digimon images on them. Use these in battle to gain an attack that is normally attributed to said Digimon. Colin, use the Agumon card just gave you."

Doing just that, Kumamon's mouth began to glow orange, and he started to dance about, "Hot, hot hot. **Pepper Breath!**" a small fireball launched up into the air, as Kumamon was about to sear any of his new friends and had turned his burning mouth skyward. He immediately dashed over to a fountain located near the Elder's hut and dunked his head in. Colin looked at his hand, were the Agumon card had been just seconds ago but had simply disappeared.

"Where did it go?"

"It's a tutorial card. Want the real deal? Find an Agumon and defeat him. Or any Digimon you want a power from Loading their data is a more effective, if not brutal way to keep a more permanent copy."

"Load their data?"

"Yeah, as in have Kumamon absorb his data stream before it flies off and reformats here, or another village that resurrects Digimon."

"Sounds like you have a problem with that. What's wrong with having our partner characters absorb enemy data? It's not like either of them are real." This came from Dmitri, and it earned him a fierce look from Elecmon.

"Yeah, the little bear over there with the cocky attitude is just a programed response unit, and I'm just a mouthy avatar to some fired programmer, **RIGHT**? Don't pretend to know everything, kid. Just makes people want to throttle you."

Not at all affected by Elecmon's response, Dmitri shot back with his own, "Kinda like a little red outcast acting all shocked and annoyed by a rookie's sloppy first fight, right?"

"Hey!" this time both Colin and Kumamon acted insulted. Both Dmitri and Elecmon ignored them, Elecmon smirking over Dmitri's comparison.

"Yeah, kinda."

"So Asami, where do you suggest we head for first?" this was Colin, who was eager to a move on, as his first hour was already up at this point.

"Well, why don't we just take that road out of the village and see where that takes us? Like into that nice forest over there."

Colin eyed the 'nice' forest, which had some large caterpillar like Digimon hanging from branches and a few flower like Digimon shoving each other out of the rays of sun gleaming through the trees. "Sure. Why not? Let's take the path leading to the creepy forest." _You had to agree to let the cute chick lead you, didn't you? Colin, sometimes you bring these things upon yourself._

"Alright, let's go! I ready to smack some more Mons about! Come on, Colin!" Kumamon dashed on down the road, with his Tamer trailing on behind him.

"Slow down, silly old bear. Adventure isn't going anywhere. We got plenty of time."

* * *

><p>Digi-World Primary Path, 2nd Hour


	2. Chapter 2: Never Split the Party

01/30/2012

Disclaimer: I have never own, nor plan on owning Digimon, in any form. I just like to write silly scenarios and share them with others.

FanAuthor's Note: All reviews are much appreciated. I chose to start writing Fanfiction to get a feel on how people respond to my current writing style, so any feedback is again, much appreciated. Also, I choosing to go with Kumamon (as opposed to Bearmon) because that's how the Digimon was first presented to me when I played Digimon World 3.

Chapter 2: Never Split the Party/Foraging

_This is Colin Ursa, with his first recording to be sent MAGAMI Corporation in review of their Virtual Realities handiwork. I would like to once again thank the corporation for allowing me to go in my brother's stead, due to his condition leaving him unable to play himself and letting me record the experience to share with him. The scenery inside the game is nice enough, with the Primary Village having the feel of a small, strange nursery and the ground actually feeling gravelling and bumpy at certain points. Not being as tech savvy as some of your other reviewers, I can only say that I've enjoyed the visuals so far, and kudos to the team behind that. And now on to the actual 'gameplay'. I had no idea where to find the tutorial room, and crashing down outside of the village is not as enjoyable for those who don't remember how the first season's theme song and origin went. I would have liked to have been given some more time to know how to play the game before an enemy showed up. In my battle log, as I had to discover for myself is located in my D-Arc, it will say that I engaged the enemy Digimon A.I. of my own choice. However, had I not started the battle with it, it would have destroyed another player's partner Digimon before they could arrive to protect it. I was able to…sorry, we were able to beat back the Goblimon, as he was called, but I think people would prefer if Digimon attacks like that didn't just come out of the blue. Granted, he and his gang seem to be part of some story line mission you guys have written up, so I'll say nothing more about it for now. Well, I'm holding my group up, so I'll stop recording for now. With Regards, Colin Ursa._

* * *

><p>Digi-World Primary Path, 2nd Hour

"What were you doing back there?" asked Asami, raising a questioning eyebrow as Colin caught up with the others, with Kumamon still speeding along ahead.

"Recording a message for my brother. I'm going to upload it later so that he can see how my first day went," he told her, not wanting to reveal too much too soon. _I'm not a nark, but I don't need to go around telling people I'm some paid reviewer. I already look such a noob, fumbling about this game as it is. No need to tell either her or Dmitri more than they need to._

Colin peered down at his D-Arc, and his countdown showed that he had four more hours left in the day to play. _I've already spent an entire hour here? Sheesh, time goes by when you're getting knocked around by a Goblimon._

When he looked up, he noticed that the group had stopped for a moment. As he got closer, he saw that they were crowding around Kumamon, who had finally slowed down and was bent over, supporting himself on his knees as he caught his breath.

"Hey, you okay there buddy?"

Kumamon answered between pants, "Yeah…just need to…catch my breath. Don't know why I…suddenly feel so ti…red. I mean, I was hungry before, but then you had me Digivo-"

The little bear began to glow again, and suddenly it reverted back to Wanyamon. Colin went to pick up his partner, and found that he had fallen asleep, with actual animated Z's floating over his head.

"He probably used up all the energy the Digivolution card gave him running off like that," said Asami.

"Hmm, light-weight," came the sleepy comment from Asami's silver helmeted Wanyamon lookalike.

"But I thought my D-Arc said that Kumamon would be his default form now." Replied Colin, ignoring Asami's partner.

Dmitri chose to answer this one, "It is his default now, but he'll revert to a lower level if he isn't fed regularly, or spends all his energy charging ahead."

Feeling embarrassed that both of them now this and yet he was in the dark as to how to maintain his partner, Colin sweatdropped. Not purposely, but the game translated his feelings of embarrassment and animated them in the typical anime fashion. Unfortunately, both Dmitri and Asami could see this, and chuckled to themselves.

"Okay then, so where can I find some food for the little guy then? You guys wanna go on ahead while we trek back to Primary Village?"

Asami shook her head, "No need for that, we can pick some berries or catch fish in the forest." When Colin gave a look that said '_How complicated is that going to be?'_ she continued with, "Don't worry, the fishing part is easy once you get the hang of it."

"How could you know all this stuff about a game that's just come out? Even the TV show can't have explained how to catch fish or forage for food in a Virtual Reality game."

She smiled, "I read a blog made by one of the designers, giving away free tips a month before the game opened in Japan. Stick with me, Colin, and you are going to be fine."

With that, she resumed walking down the road, towards the eerie forest they had been traveling to. Dmitri silently gave Colin a thumb up, and followed after her.

Sighing, Colin placed Wanyamon securely on top of his head, where immediately the little creature wrapped its tail around his neck firmly, but not too tight, so as to stay put. The teenager then proceeds to once again catch up with his companions.

* * *

><p>Digi-World Fresh Forest, 2nd hour and 15 minutes spent.

The six travelers were now a little ways into the forest by now, with the entrance only a few feet behind. None of the Tamers had said a word to one another since Wanyamon fell asleep, and an awkward silence set in as they went deeper into the trees. Finally, Asami couldn't stand it any longer.

"So, where are you guys from?"

The two boys looked at each other, seeing who wanted to answer first. Eventually, Colin chose to speak up.

"I'm from Brooklyn. Nothing much to tell ya, it's a nice enough place. How bout you, where are you from?"

"Minato. It's a little town in Tokyo. Actually, I live the Tamachi area. You may recognize the name."

Colin shook his head, but Dmitri answered with, "Isn't it where one of the show's characters live? That evil kid, Ken right?"

"Yup! Both Odaiba and Tamachi got Game Stations up early to celebrate! But it was a bit too crowded over there for my tastes, so I came here to get a chance at the early seats and play time." She spotted a river over to the right of the trail they were on, and took off in that direction through the bushes.

The boys went after her, Dmitri bumping into something small and yellow hanging off a branch, but neither of them bothered to look at what he had knocked over. Dmitri was the first to reach her, finding her squatting by the side of the river. He tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"Why did you run off like that? What'd you see?"

She pointed in at something in the river, not looking up from where she was looking. "See those things moving over there?"

The boys both looked, making out brown and silver like shapes swimming about in the water. Colin squinted hard, trying to make them out.

"Are they Digimon?"

"Nope, just digital fish. Salmon and Tuna by the looks of them."

"'Salmon?' but didn't you just say they weren't Digimon…'" Asami turned and gave him an amused look, and Colin blushed before continuing, "Shut up, you heard it to. Not my fault the animals name ends in 'mon'."

"I have a better question: why are there digital fish in this game? Aren't all the creatures in this game supposed to be Digimon?" Colin wondered how Dmitri's question was necessarily 'better', but didn't feel the need to argue the point.

"I thought you watch the TV show as well. There were fish in the Digital World there too; it's what the kids ate while they were stuck there. Remember the first few episodes?" Not waiting for an answer, she got up and started to go through her own cards, which Colin noticed she had six of as opposed to the guys' separate sets of five. _Why does she get six- no, don't care. Not gonna complain._

"So, I'm guessing they're what feed our partners? How are we supposed to catch them?" Colin looked around for some stones to use while saying this, finding his pickings to be slim.

Appearing to have decided on the card she felt like using, Asami smiled at Colin as she replied,

"Well normally, we could just get a fishing rod like actual fishermen. But since your cub felt like dashing off before we could properly equip ourselves,"

She raised her left arm; flashing her D-Arc strapped to it in front of her, she downward slashed a card through it. Both of the guys recognized it to be the Digivolution card.

**Digivolution Activate.**

The little Wanyamon lookalike started to have a familiar glow to it, and it began to rise into the air.

Kapurimon…digivolve to…**Kotemon!**

In place of Kapurimon, there stood an upright kendo-gear garbed lizard, wielding a shinai. The kendo mask it had on kept its face hidden, with only its yellow eyes visible.

"Mistress, what is it you wish of me?"

Giggling at the thought of being referred to as 'mistress', Asami pointed towards the fish.

"Kotemon, could you be a dear and get everyone some fish?"

"It shall be done."

He moved towards the water, but then Asami held him back.

"Oh right, before you head off, you might need a little help."

Taking yet another card out, she slashed this one through to. Colin spotted a blue dragon like dragon depicted on the cover. Asami's D-Arc cried out a different command from before.

**Digi-Modify: Aero Wings Activate.**

A pair of dragon wings sprouted out of Kotemon's back. Colin and Dmitri did a double take at this, awakening their both their partners. DemiMeramon had chosen to sleep furthest away from the water, for the obvious reason of not wanting to be put out. Wanyamon spotted Kotemon take off for the fish.

"Who's the new guy?"

"That Kotemon, Asami's partner," replied Colin.

"Thought he was shorter."

"That's because he just digivolved, like you did earlier."

"Oh. What's he doing?"

"Getting us food. You primarily, grumble gut."

The little furball's stomach roared again, but Wanyamon ignored it while happily bounced up and down at the fact that someone was getting him food.

"Yay, food. Thanks Kotemon!"

Flapping its borrowed wings above the school of fish, Kotemon held his shinai to his left side, before diving downward and swinging the wooden sword horizontally into the mass of fish.

"**Thunder Kote!**"

The fish sprang up out of the water, sparks flying amongst them as they were quickly killed and deep fried. The water helped cook many of them in an instant, while some of the tuna managed to swim off in time. A shadow of a clawed creature also departed from the area, though clearly it was no fish.

Quickly putting away his shinai, Kotemon dove into the water to grab some of the fried fish. Upon catch five of them, he attempted to flap his wings and fly back to shore. Unfortunately, they seemed to no longer be there.

Having seen his wings disappear from the land, Asami immediately sorted through her cards again.

"Mistress, if you could please swipe the flying card again."

"Way ahead of you, Kotemon! Aero wings, coming right up."

She brought out what was supposed to be the Aero Wings card, but found that it had blacked for some reason. Not caring, she ran it through her D-Arc once more. The response the device gave was not encouraging.

**Time Remaining Until Card Recharged: 5 minutes.**

In five minutes Kotemon would have been swept out of sight down the river. A look of worry was etched over both Asami and her partner's face (well, if you could see Kotemon's face).

"Damn it! Why do cards need to freaking recharge! What am I going to do?" she began to frantically review her remain cards, trying to find one out of her four remaining that would be of help.

"Not again, not again, not again…" she couldn't seem to find a useful card in the lot, not one that could help Kotemon out in time.

Dmitri watched her shuffle through her cards, a slightly annoyed look on his face. DemiMeramon seemed to make a motion towards the river, but Dmitri pressed a command button on his D-Arc, and DemiMeramon reluctantly stopped moving.

Not wasting any time upon hearing the D-Arc's message, and not noticing Dmitri lack of response, Colin pulled out his own five cards.

"I got this!"

Wanyamon looked at his partner, and realizing that he wanted them to help out, bounced towards the water.

Taking his own Digivolution card out, Colin held his left arm up like Asami, then dropped it horizontally in front of his chest and swiped his card.

**Digivolution Activate.**

Wanyamon…digivolve to…**Kumamon!**

The same cocky grin he had on when facing Goblimon returned to Kumamon's face. "Alright, time to go save _Drownmon."_

Smiling in response to his partner's sudden shift from a gentle ball of fur to a cocky little cub, Colin looked at his four remaining charged cards. _Okay, what to use? Already used Digivolution. Hyper Speed? No, that won't necessarily give Kumamon the strength to swim back against the current. Power Strike's seems to only be helpful in a fight. Wait._ He looked at a card depicting a Snow Bear Digimon, clearly suggesting he had some ice-based powers. _Ice, that's just what we need._

He put away the rest of the cards, and holding up the Frigimon battle card, pulled off his signature card slash.

**Digi-Modify: Subzero Ice Punch Activate.**

Kumamon's paws began to have a white mist form around them. "Chilly. What's this for?"

"Aim your paws at the river and use the attack on the water."

"Attack the water? Are you feeling okay?"

"Not _attack_ the water, _aim_ the attack at the water. Just do it!"

"Fine. **Subzero Ice Punch!**"

A wave of winter wind blasted off Kumamon's paws, and upon impact with the water started to form ice on top of it instantly. Getting the idea now, the cub aimed the blast of cold air towards Kotemon's current location, clumsily running a top the ice pathway leading that way. Seeing that he'll never be able to catch up the drifting Digimon the rate he's going, Kumamon shot of a blast ahead of both his and Kotemon's positions, blocking any chance of him floating on down river some more. When both of the Rookie-level Digimon met up at the ice wall, Kumamon helped Kotemon up onto the ice walk way, his hands now returned to their normal temperature.

"Okay there scale-head?" the cub smiled cheerfully at his 'thoughtful' nickname. Kotemon didn't seem to share his enjoyment for it.

"Just fine, furry-face. But now I suppose we'll have to find food elsewhere, since I failed to retrieve the fish."

"Don't be too sure," Stopping along the pathway, Kumamon made a sudden snatching movement at something in the water, and pulled out one of the supposedly escaped tuna. "Perks of creating an ice bridge: get to trap things that would otherwise have gotten away. Course, you'd know all about that."

Kotemon tightly gripped his shinai, but mentally calmed himself and kept on walking down the ice bridge, grabbing the occasional fried fish and impaling them on his wooden sword like a spit. Kumamon, not noticing the bad mood he had put his companion in, strolled up to the awaiting Tamers and DemiMeramon with five fish in tow.

"Someone get a fire going, this hero needs some sushi!"

* * *

><p>Fresh Forest, 2nd hour and 55 minutes spent.

The day seemed to be darkening already, despite the fact that it seemed morning only two hours prior. Apparently the game is built with a shorter day than in real life, allowing players to play both in the game's Day and Night times. Not that this mattered much to the Tamers, who were busy feeding their partners.

The group had gathered some twigs, rocks, and branches from the surrounding area, and had set up a little fireplace on the riverbank. Not wanting to spend time to much time actually building a fire, they had DemiMeramon light it for them, and proceeded to roast whatever fish Kotemon hadn't over it. Asami spent half her time drying Kotemon and hugging him viciously.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know there was a time limit on those things, or that they wouldn't work twice in a row, or that-" she went on and on, all the while her grip around Kotemon's neck becoming more vice like.

"All is forgiven Mistress, but if you could please loosen your hold…"

"Oh. Sorry," she quickly let go, as if her touch hadn't somehow burned him.

DemiMeramon (who in-between his own servings of fish) had decided to offer some of his meal to Kumamon and Kotemon, as a friendly gesture. Kumamon greedily accepted the offering, while Kotemon politely declined.

"Thank you, DemiMeramon. I've had my fill of fish for the night."

Kumamon reached out for the plate upon hearing this, "More for me. Gimme, gimme!"

The shinai rapped his paws, knocking them away from the plate. "Leave some for the others. You've had more than your fair share."

"Hey, if DemiMeramon's cool with it, then what does it matter to you? You're okay with me having the last few, right buddy?"

DemiMeramon nodded in response, attempting its best to form a smile that its stitched up mouth didn't make it look creepy. It appeared to have not at the very least ruin Kumamon's appetite, as he was able to scarf down the next 3 salmon without so much as a frightened glance.

Colin watched the scene while biting into a nice salmon, one of the few he had managed to get before Kumamon ravaged a score of them. _Hungry little guy._

He looked over at Asami, seeing that she was pretty troubled over the fact that she had almost lost her partner to a simple river incident. She kept trying to grab onto to Kotemon, as if she was afraid to let him go or else he might fade away. _I wonder what's bugging her. I mean, these guys are nice and all, but they're not real. They're just game programs, with detailed personalities._ He eyed his partner, who while thankfully still at Rookie-level, had passed out with a full, bulging belly after his 15th salmon. _Very detailed personalities, I'll admit. That and I'm not cold-hearted enough to just let him die on me. Still, she's pretty shook up. Hasn't even touched her fish._ It just occurred to him that he needn't eat fish himself, since it's artificial and he has actual food at the hotel. _…nope, still worth eating._

Dmitri, quiet as was before, didn't touch his fish either. Instead he just gave DemiMeramon 5 salmon, not saying a word to it while doing so. When he was done, and he noticed no one was looking, he pressed a command into his D-Arc, seemingly silencing the thing, before somehow storing 6 salmon and 4 tuna into the digivice. _Looks like neither of them know how to do that yet. Not point telling them, since they probably won't appreciate anything I have to offer anyway._ A memory of a time with his father flashed through his head. His father was working on an old car of his, and there was a problem with the engine. The young Dmitri was holding a catalogue, full of new engines that were compatible with their car, but his father just brushed him off, and called in his older brothers to help him sort it out. They would suffer constant engine failures on the side of roads year after year. Finally his father got a new car, one with the exact same engine Dmitri had recommended. He seemed to have just thought it up on his own, as he would tell neighbors while they enviously checked out his new ride. _No one ever listens to me anyway. Let them figure it out on their own._

Looking at the leftovers from their little feast, Colin counted about 12 salmon and 30 tuna uneaten. He peered toward Asami once more, and saw that she and Kotemon were leaning against a tree, Kotemon appearing to be asleep, while she was still hunched over. He walked over to her and sat down against the tree as well.

"Hey, you okay?"

"What? Fine, yeah I'm fine."

"Okay, if you say you are. You looked pretty up-"

"I SAID I'M FINE!" she glared at him with watery eyes, then seeing the hurt look on his face, apologized. "Sorry. It's just, I…"

She composed herself, and then continued "I lost my puppy like this once. It was a rainy day, and none of my family wanted to take Sam out to walk. I was only 6 back then, but the neighborhood was safe and I knew my way back home, so I took him out. We walked all the way around town, and were headed back home. Then this red squirrel bolts out from nowhere, and Sam starts to chase after it. He had a collar and leash on, but I wasn't strong enough to control him. The squirrel led him down to a river, which floods onto the path above on rainy days, like I said it was. The squirrel was able to hop on the float trash in the river to the other side. Sam tried to, but ended up getting knocked away by the rain. I tried to help him, but I wasn't able to reach him, and I was so afraid of drowning. And I left…I left…"

She started to break down, leaving Colin at a loss at what to do. He settled on taking her and letting her crying on him. He had seen his friends do this with their girlfriends back home, and thought this was appropriate. _We're just friends, we're just friends…_

"You tell anyone I was bubbling like baby on your shoulder, I will hurt you."

"Sounds to me like the dog was stupid."

The two of them thought they heard that come from Dmitri's direction, and Colin glared daggers at his roommate. Dmitri caught the glare and looked bewildered as to what he'd done to warrant it.

"What the hell, man? The puppy was freaking following his instincts. Not his fault it was crappy weather."

This seemed to revert Asami back into her earlier depressed mood, causing Colin to quickly added, "It was No One's fault! You can't blame yourself, your dog needed to go outside."

Again, a voice from Dmitri location spoke, but before either Colin or Asami could look up and see that Dmitri's mouth wasn't moving to match it, "And the dog also needed to chase some random squirrel, and promptly drowned for of it. Nature at work."

Realizing that someone had copied his voice and was using it against them, Dmitri was about to speak up in his defense, but decided against it._ Niet, they're not dumb enough to think that I would say stuff like that. Sure, we just met, but why would I go out of my way to insult a girl's dead dog?_

Colin's opinion of his roommate was however growing darker as the seconds rolled by. "You really that much of a callous bastard? Come to think of it, you haven't tried to help either of us in the short time we've been here."

This time, Dmitri did speak for himself, that last comment setting him off, "I didn't realize I was meant to waste my time helping stumbling fools find their way."

This caused Kumamon to wake up, and having heard half of the conversation so far, got to his feet and went over to Colin's side, seeming to be preparing for some sort of confrontation.

"Who exactly do you think you're calling fool, **roomie**?"

"The boy who almost got his ass handed to him by a rookie level goblin, and the sobbing girl who couldn't save her own Digimon from drowning. Do you really think that was me saying that crap about Asami's dog a second ago?" He immediately regretted saying that. _Great, now I sound like Elecmon._

"That's rich. No really, that's freaking hilarious, coming from a guy whose Digimon's still little more than a little spark. No one else is here besides you, me, Asmai, and the Digimon. It sure as hell weren't Kumamon or Kotemon, since they were asleep, and your DemiMeramon seems incapable of saying a damn word. And answer me, you going to have us do everything for you, or better yet, can you even play this game by yourself? You were the one so eager to have me join up with you, remember?"

Dmitri actually showed a little emotion and scowled at this. "That was me offering a friendly gesture. I didn't think I'd have such touchy, incompetent kids."

"Friendly? What's friendly about sitting back letting others catch fish your Digimon's incapable of getting itself, then insulting their dead pets because of some sad Darwinist opinion, or not even trying to help out a drowning Digimon?"

"You didn't ask for my help. There's no point giving it out freely if you're so confident you can manage things on your own."

"What, you expect us to just beg for your assistance? Who do you think you are? You're nothing special. So you're a few years older than me, you think that means that I need to grovel at your feet every time your help is needed? You're supposed to help others without even being asked to!"

The two glared at the other, Kumamon clenching his paws threateningly while DemiMeramon enlarged its flames, if not half-heartedly.

"Will you both stop it?" Asami had chosen to speak up, "Stop arguing about this. It's not worth bickering over!"

Colin was taken aback by this. "He makes a comment about your dog, and you're defending him?"

"No, I'm not defending what he said about Sam. He's an ass. But there's no need for this hostility. Just let it go."

"Me? I was defending you! You should be the one telling him to shove it, not me!"

Asami's face grew red with frustration, "I never asked that you act like some shining knight, and I sure as hell didn't give you permission to move my head onto your shoulders. I don't need your help!"

Now Kotemon was awake, and had noticed that the faces of all those present were extremely angry, seemingly with one another. Placing himself quickly between Asami and the others, he drew his shinai out.

"You didn't need my help? Wasn't my Digimon who was almost drowning just a second ago. I could have easily done nothing like the heartless prick over here," he pointed a finger in Dmitri's direction while saying this.

Silence fell upon the little site, with all three Tamers staring at one another, and their partners eyeing the others with warning glares. Then Dmitri just turned around and headed back into the forest.

"Fuck the both of you, I don't need this. Thought I could stand hanging with you guys for a while, but even 3 hours into the game I'm tired of you both," turning his head back one last time, he directed his last statement at Colin, "Oh and **roomie**? You forget your pass key, and you can fucking sleep outside for all I care." With that, he motioned for DemiMeramon to follow him, and they both disappeared into the trees.

"Well, sleeping in the same room is going to be awkward now."

"Yeah, well have fun with that." Asami turned and started to leave in her own direction.

"What, now you're mad at me too?"

"Not mad. Just don't feel like being anywhere near you. Two completely different things." With that, she too disappeared. Kotemon started to follow, then turned and bowed in Colin's direction.

"Thank you kind sir, for assisting me before. I will try to change my Mistress's mood and have us reunited, as I am in your debt." He quickly followed after his Tamer, not wanting to lose sight of her.

"Kumamon?"

"Yeah Colin?"

"How did we end up being the bad guys?"

"I have no idea. Thought you would know?"

"Just as lost as you buddy."

Seeing as they had no way to take all the remaining fish (to their knowledge), and with no one else left at the site to travel with, Colin looked at the only clear opening into the forest that the other two hadn't taken, and strode of in that direction. _Well, guess we're going solo after all._

Unbeknownst to either Dmitri, the yellow thing he had knocked off before could move and has eyes. And many siblings. Originally, they were just going to rush the group, but then a red goblin like Digimon approached them with an offer. Having waited in the bushes, the Shamanmon finally got an opportunity to use its voice mimicking skills when the girl had revealed her sappy puppy story. Later, seeing the argument erupt amongst the kids, the group of Kunemon saw their chance to get a little payback when the boy and his fireball stomped off back into the forest. Turning to thank the Shamanmon, who had left after the argument, they swarm of yellow caterpillar Digimon followed Dmitri and DemiMeramon.

Similarly, the clawed creature had waited until he saw Colin and Kumamon leave before coming ashore. Not actually wanting revenge, but simply desiring a fair share of the fish that was denied to it earlier, it began to chow down on the left behind meal. If Kotemon did show up again, however, Crabmon had no problem dicing the lizard for being to greedy.

* * *

><p>Fresh Forest, 3rd hour and 15 minutes spent.

"_You're supposed to help others without even being asked to!"_

It was only a moment ago, but his words still seemed to ring in Dmitri's ears. _Idiots! You want my help, speak up. I don't do freebies. Besides, that voice sounded nothing like me. I barely even speak, how could they think that's how I sound li-"_ He paused, the continued his train of thought. _Okay, fair enough. I probably should have spoken up more."_

He looked over at DemiMeramon, who was sadly trailing along behind him. _And yeah, DemiMeramon hasn't digivolved yet. But that's because I don't just rush out and pick fights with the first staged moral crisis the game throws at me. Bah, such a cowboy. _

Still, he knew that he would eventually have to have the little fireball fight, instead of just watching from the sidelines. But then he's actually have a plan, he wouldn't just go guns blazing and hope for the best. He's not stupid.

'_I didn't realize I was meant to waste my time helping stumbling fools find their way.'_

He came to a halt. _Okay, maybe what I said back there was pretty stupid of me. But they were the ones who just heard someone saying crap in voice similar to mine and assume I want to alienate myself by spewing such Darwinist crap._ It occurred to him that he had gotten rather nasty when he lost his patience, and how it didn't help his image. _My god, I was really an asshole back there. I barely talked to either of them, and while he's hearing what troubles her, I'm busy sneaking food away for later …I should probably apologize to them both before we head back up to our rooms. Don't want the first night to be awkward. And getting a new roommate at this time will be too much of a pain._

Dmitri turned around, and headed back for the riverbank. "DemiMeramon, we're heading back."

"Back? We're not going to fight the others, are we?"

It had occurred to Dmitri that up until now, he hadn't heard his partner speak at all. _Must have muted him before._ "No, we're going to try and smooth things over. No fighting."

"Oh good." This voice was not DemiMeramon's. It had a more clicking, insect sound to it.

"We were hoping to take you on ourselves." Out of trees descended a dozen yellow caterpillar-like Digimon, web lines connecting their abdomens to the trees they came down from. The speaker looked a little familiar to Dmitri, though he could tell why.

"You've got a lot of nerve, knocking over sleeping Digimon."

* * *

><p>"Mistress, I'm sure if we just go back and talked it over like-"<p>

"No? We are not getting involved with alpha male apes who want to show the other who's better at pissing the farthest. If they want to be little boys, then they can act like little boys. I have nothing to say to either of them."

Kotemon sighed and continued, "But mistress, the Colin boy was only trying to defend the honor of the 'puppy' you held dear. Surely you as his friend would do just the same if someone insulted something dear to him."

"I just met the boy, Kotemon. And no one asked him to 'stand up for me'. That heroic nice guy act is just that, and act," an image of a girl similar to Asami, only older and wearing glasses, flashed through her mind. She was with a boy, who had on the widest smile, and had placed his jacket over a puddle to let the older Asami walk over without wetting her feet. As soon as the real Asami came up to the puddle, the boy quickly removed his jacket and followed the older girl without giving her so much as a glance.

"An act that puts me in his debt, Mistress."

Asami turned around and stared at her partner. He wasn't going to let the matter drop anytime soon, that she could tell.

"Your very mouthy for a program, you know that?"

"Program, Mistress? I don't understand."

She sighed, "No, I don't expect you to. …Fine, I'll go back and see if he's worth hanging with." _Besides,_ she thought silently, _he is kinda cute. And it was nice of him to listen to me blubber about Sam._

This seemed to delight the honorable Rookie, who dashed back the way they came before his Tamer had even started moving.

"Hey, hey, wait up. Slow down, Kotemon!"

Having not gone as far away as Dmitri, they were able to make it back to the riverbank in little time. Upon arriving, they found half of their remaining fish eaten up. The culprit was busy gorging himself on a tuna, when he looked up and saw Kotemon.

"YOU!"

Kotemon blinked, clearly not recognizing the mon.

"Do we know each other?"

"You almost hit me with that stupid attack of yours!"

Kotemon looked at Asami, neither of them not remembering doing such a thing.

"My apologies then. I was not aware of your presence."

Taken aback by the politeness of the mon, Crabmon relented a little, "Yeah well, just don't go around swing sticks at- wait no! Regardless of whether you attacked me or not, you had to go be greedy and take all the damn fish in the school, leaving little for me!"

"Again, my apologies. The amount of fish we took was not all my doing. The bear is partly responsible."

Again, the Crabmon was swayed by the soft-spoken Digimon, "Yeah, damn beast types. I know the like." He flashed his big claw at Kotemon, "But that still doesn't excuse your part in this. Can't just go around hogging all the fish for yourselves." Raising his claw high, he slashed it forward in Kotemon's direction, crying "**Scissor Magic!**"

Three slash beams hurtled towards Kotemon. Seeing that his mistress was not directly behind him or in harm's way, he merely hopped to his left and avoided the triple beams. This angered the Crabmon considerably. "You smug bastard, STAND STILL!"

"For what possible reason would I do that?"

"So that I can skewer you! **Scissor Magic! Scissor Magic!**"

Not bothering to counter, and not feeling like wasting his energies running away, Kotemon proceeded to dance out of the way of the multiple slash attacks headed his way, hoping the crab will tire itself out so he and his mistress can pursue their companions.

* * *

><p>"<strong>Electro Thread!<strong>" was the sound that resounded in the area near Dmitri. Dozens of electrified webs flew in his direction, forcing the young adult to dodge and roll out of their way. Grabbing a card from his pocket, he simply swiped it through his D-Arc, no flashy movement or ceremony to his style.

**Digivolution Activate.**

DemiMeramon…digivolve to…**Candlemon**.

An animate candle, with wax arms and a DemiMeramon like flame on its head, appeared a flash of light. Not wasting any time, it preceded to burn away the assaulting webs.

"**Flame Bomber! Flame Bomber!**"

With Candlemon spitting out fireballs at rapid fire speeds, the Kunemon were forced to try and climb back up the tree in order to escape. 3 of the twelve were struck by the fireballs, and dissolved into a stream of data; data that flowed into Candlemon.

**Kunemon Data Absorbed. EXP raised by 5 points. Kunemon Data Absorbed. EXP raised by 5 points. Kunemon Data Absorbed. EXP raised by 5 points.**

Dmitri couldn't help but smile a little hearing this. _Sure, alone these Digimon don't offer the same amount of experience knocking out a Goblimon does, but at least Candlemon is now ahead of Kumamon._

The head Kunemon watched as what remained of his fallen siblings was sucked into the animated candle. A cold rage bubbled up inside of him, as a red aura appeared over his body. His remaining Kunemon stared at him in fear, wondering what was happening. Suddenly, two of the ones closet to him dissipated into a cloud of data, and they were in turn absorbed into the flowing Kunemon, who shape started to alter.

**Warning: Wild Digimon Digivolution!**

Dmitri looked up in time to see the Kunemon above him take on a different form.

Kunemon…digivolve to…**Flymon!**

An enormous bee like Digimon, despite its name suggesting otherwise, erupted from the canopy above and shot down towards Dmitri, its stinger aiming for the boy's heart. Dmitri wasn't moving, shocked by the fact that his opponent had Digivolved on its own. The look on his face was one more of curiosity than of terror. Regardless, the giant bee was still coming towards him.

Seeing is Tamer in danger, Candlemon leapt in the way of the attack, and was impaled for his trouble. Landing to the side of Dmitri, with a stinger sticking out of his waxy stomach, the little candle cried out in pain. Dmitri seemed to have been snap back to reality by this. _Crap, wasn't paying attention. Now my partner's down._ He turned to see that the Flymon was now behind him, turning itself around and getting ready for another run. Its stinger had already been replaced. _Well, guess it won't die of its own attack._ Checking his cards again, he saw that his Digivolution card was still charging, and his four other cards won't be of much use with Candlemon still pinned down. He stole a glance back down the way to the riverbank. _Well, I was headed that way anyway. Might as well see if they'll help me._ He shook his head and corrected himself. _No, I won't ask for their help. I just need a more open area to fight this thing at. And some time for the Digivolution card to charge._ Carefully plucking Candlemon and the stinger from the ground, Dmitri dashed down the way to the river, Flymon in pursuit. Suddenly remembering what happened during Colin's battle with Goblimon, he scrolled through his D-Arc, trying to find the battle cancelation option before he ran into an invisible barrier. Finding it, he clicked the off button, all the while still be chased by Flymon, who was firing off attacks in a fury.

"**Brown Stingers!**"

* * *

><p>"Colin, where exactly are we headed?"<p>

"This way."

"Yeah, I can see that. I meant what's in that direction?"

"We'll see when we get there."

A sigh escaped the little bear, as he tried to not overtake his slowly, stomping partner.

"What's the big deal? Dmitri said something you didn't like and now everybody's splitting up? What happened while I was asleep?"

"Let's just say living with him as my roommate for a whole year is going to be a massive task."

"Ah come on, it can't have been that bad. He's so quiet, what could he have said to piss you off this much?"

"Well for one, he said you and I were incompetent."

"I was awake for that, and I believe he said YOU were incompetent. I kicked ass."

This earned the little bear a fierce noogie from his slightly amused partner.

"Regardless, I can't work or hang out with someone who acts all nice, all the while silently judging your every mishap or move. So our first battle was sloppy."

"Well maybe it wasn't him. You sure you heard him say everything you actually heard?"

"Of course it was him, who else could it be? What, you think I'm that easy to fool?"

"**Mad Twist!**"

A purple ring of energy spun towards the two. Kumamon spotted it before Colin did, and tackled him to the ground, avoiding the ring. They watched as the ring continued on its path, slicing through trees as it went.

"Okay, what the hell?" Getting back on his feet and looking around, the boy spotted one of the red goblin Digimon he had seen back at the village. "Oh look, another Goblimon looking to be clobbered."

"How dare you! I'm Shamanmon! We don't look anything alike!"

The two partners exchanged a look, and then surveyed the 'Shamanmon'. His clothes were slightly cleaner, and his club was some other animal's bone, but other than that he was a different hue of the Goblimon Kumamon punched out prior.

Kumamon closed his eyes and shrugged, "Whatever, what do you want?"

"What, other than trying to kill us?"

The partners eyed each other agressively, before returning their attention to Shamanmon.

"I'm here to avenge my brother's defeat at your hands! Prepare yourself!" crouching at first, the Shamanmon launched himself towards Kumamon, club raised.

"**Dancing Bone!**"

Spinning like a mini twister, upon reaching Kumamon he started a series of barrage strikes. Kumamon could barely avoid half of them, the blows that his tearing his fur.

"A little help, Partner?"

"Already on it!"

Not wasting any time deciding on what card to use, as it was clear what Kumamon needed, he slashed the card through his D-Arc.

**Digi-Modify: Hyper Speed Activate.**

Kumamon's trademark grin returned to his face, as a swing from Shamanmon passed through an afterimage he left behind.

"Huh, where'd you go?"

"Right behind you."

Shamanmon turned around just in time to at least see a furry paw strike his chin.

"**Bear-cub Punch!**"

The Shamanmon was sent cruising skyward. Kumamon drew back his other paw, ready to strike him when he comes back down.

"Hey, Kumamon. Leave him conscious when you hit him, would ya?"

The Shamanmon was beginning to descend.

"Huh, what for?"

"Want to ask him a few things, that's all."

"Fine, whatever."

The Shamanmon readied himself, and brought his club in front of him to block the next blow. Kumamon spotted him doing this, and continued to grin regardless

"You really think that will help you?"

Unclenching his paw, he unsheathed his claws.

"**Bear Claw!**"

Glowing with a blue energy, Kumamon's claws cut through Shamanmon's club and struck him, causing him to crash to the ground, data pouring out of his wound.

"Kumamon! What part of 'leave him conscious' sounded like 'kill him' to you?"

Kumamon looked hurt by Colin's reprimanding, "But but I could have gotten past his stupid club otherwise, and he is still alive."

The Shamanmon started to lose form, shifting from stable to a loose jumble of pixilated colors.

"Mostly" he finished, sounding sheepish.

Softening, Colin turned his attention to the dying Shamanmon.

"What exactly do you want with us?"

"Oh, so now it's an okay question? A minute ago I was getting an earful for apparently asking dumb questions." Kumamon was tapping his foot, giving Colin a dirty look.

"Sorry, I was feeling grouchy."

Shamanmon was about to say something, but Kumamon cut him off, "We'll get to you, shut it. No seriously, you just in the habit of arguing with everyone, or only people trying to help you?"

'_I didn't realize I was meant to waste my time helping stumbling fools find their way.'_

"Dmitri wasn't helping us, or don't you remember? He won't move a finger until you ask him to."

"Wow, it's really that easy to divide you humans. I should have even wasted by breath imitating that kid." Realizing what he had just let slip, the Shamanmon immediately clammed up.

Both Colin and Kumamon were giving him their undivided attention now.

"Care to run that by us again?" the boy asked, eyebrow raised.

"I got nothing to say to either of you."

"Oh really? Colin, remind me. Don't Digimon we beat up and I absorb get transformed into cards?"

Seeing where the cub was going with this, he smiled and went along, "Yeah, that sounds about right. Now sure, we don't know if we can change you guys back once that happens, but imagine where we might end up 'losing' your card."

The Shamanmon's eyes widened as he realized what they were hinting at. Kumamon, happy to find that their enemy wasn't dumb enough to not get their meaning, continued on.

"Oh, we might drop you unknowingly into that river…"

"…or in some wild Greymon's cave…"

"…or with some Numemon…"

Just saying 'Numemon' was enough to crack the Shamanmon. "All right, all right I talk. I have the ability to copy others voices. Or at least something similar to them. I pretended to sound like your friend to get to all to fight one another, soften each other up. There are a bunch of Kunemon after him right now."

"Thank you. Now was that so hard?"

Colin continued with another question.

"Where is the rest of your gang, by the way? There had better not be any more ambushes waiting for us tonight. I'm in a bad mood."

The Shamanmon looked like he was about to answer, but his time had finally run out, and he disintegrated into data and was promptly sucked into Kumamon, who was shocked by the sudden flow of energy. The D-Arc spoke once again.

**Battle Concluded. Tamer and Partner are Victorious. EXP raised by 25 points. Digivolution to Champion-level possible at next battle. Combat Zone disengaged.**

A card bearing Shamanmon's likeness flew towards Colin, who caught it rather clumsily, not expecting it to come at him. Silence then reigned between the two of them for a while. There was then a buzzing sound could be heard far off, and Kumamon turned to look up at his partner.

"So, ready to go apologize yet?"

"Smart-ass. Yeah, let's go make up. Wouldn't want to worry that my roommate's gonna drop me out the window in my sleep."

"You keep calling him your roommate. What room are you taking about? Are you guys' pirates?"

Colin sighed. _Right, he doesn't know he's part of a game. I forgot._

"Never mind, let's just hurry."

* * *

><p>"<strong>Magic…magic claw.<strong>"

Still swiping, and still missing, Crabmon tried to at least make Kotemon work to dodge. Having gorged himself on the surplus of fish however, he hadn't some much powered himself up as he did slow down and make himself drowsy. Kotemon really did feel bad humiliating the guy like this.

_I'll just knock him out quickly, and leave him some fish on a raft. Then I'll set him on down the river._

All future plans where cut short by Dmitri and Candlemon crashing through the foliage, with the enraged Flymon still on their tail.

"Qui…quit running," was all it could manage, having seemingly become feral.

Asami saw the three and scowled, "Well, I see your luck with your new friend is as good as before."

Dmitri retorted in kind, "Well he's as pushy as the old ones, but at least he smells less."

They both regretted saying what they did seconds later, and answered simultaneously.

"Sorry."

"Well…that's nice. Now DIE!" the Flymon raised its stinger in their direction.

"**Brown Sting**-"

"**Bear-cub Punch!**"

Appearing seemingly out of nowhere, Kumamon struck the giant bee on its right. Barely fazed by his sudden appearance, he swatted the cub away with his legs.

"Gah!"

Kumamon slammed midair into the newly formed barrier, slumping down to the bottom half-conscious.

"What are you doing here?" said Dmitri, stunned that Colin had chosen to come back on his own.

Appearing behind Flymon and jumping onto its back, gripping his wings while doing so, Colin made a gesture to his ear, making it clear he still can't hear people outside the Combat Zone.

"Damn it, how can we get in there to help?"

"You want to help? Thought you liked to wait for people to ask first?" this comment Asami made clear she wasn't going to take back, putting a hand to her hip and giving Dmitri a disapproving look most people see their mothers give them.

"…yeah, I'm helping for free. Don't expect it to be a regular occurrence. Sides, the Flymon was technically ours at first." He stopped, and realized that for some reason he could speak to Asami, even though Kotemon was engaged with that Crabmon.

"Wait, how is it you can hear me?"

"What do you me… oh, you mean cause of that Crabmon? None of his attacks have landed once, so technically we're still unengaged at the moment."

"Says you!" came the tired voice of Crabmon, who they all ignored.

"Okay Asami, you're the Digimon otaku. What do we have to do in order to get in there and help Colin and Kumamon?"

"Is this you asking for my help?"

"Asami, we don't have time for this!"

Colin and Kumamon were looking exhausted; having used all their cards save for the Digivolution one, and the Flymon looked none worse for wears.

"Mistress, please just tell them. We don't have time for this." Kotemon was now barely paying attention to Crabmon, a mistake that would soon cut more conversation short.

"Hey, pay attention to me! **Scissor Magic**!" for the first time that night, a slash wave struck Kotemon; bringing down a ring of energy around him, Asami, and Crabmon.

"Damn it!"

Asami, realizing she'd been silenced by the Combat Zone, took off her D-Arc from her arm and brought it up against the see through barrier. Dmitri looked as she input commands, until the screen read '**Grant Access? Scanning for other D-Arcs in area,**'. Seeing that, Dmitri turned to Colin's battle with the Flymon and, putting in the commands he just saw, got Colin's attention by waving frantically. Colin looked down at his D-Arc, and saw the message asking '**Grant Access to fellow Tamer?**'.

He looked over at Kumamon, who was panting heavily and had stingers stuck in the ground all around him. "What do you say; want to let the guy in?"

Kumamon managed a weak shrug, "You're the one who got into a fight with him. Me and DemiMeramon were cool."

Colin smiled at that, "Think the fireball's going by a different name now, but yeah you're right."

Tapping '**Accept**', the barrier opened a little 'doorway' for Dmitri and Candlemon to enter through, earning them Flymon's attention. The opening closed as soon and Candlemon hoped weakly through, still hurt by the stinger from early.

"Hey, want to help us out with this guy?" said Colin, giving a friendly smile.

Returning the smile, the college student replied, "The bug was ours first, but thank you for softening him up for us."

Kumamon fell on his tail, relived over being, well, relieved off duty.

"Oh yeah, no problem. What are friends for?"

"**Brown Stingers!**"

Setting its sights solely on Dmitri and Candlemon, five stingers flew towards the pair. Dmitri scooped up his still weak partner and rolled out of the way. _Okay, time to roast us a bee._ Drawing a random card, which he hoped was the Digivolution card; he set down Candlemon and swiped it without giving it a look. The result was not bad, but unexpected.

**Digi-Modify: Gasoline Activate.**

Candlemon began to drip more, and Dmitri almost lost his footing trying to stand back up. _So not what I wanted_. Looking renewed, the living candle turned its sights on Flymon.

"**Melted Wax**"

Extending his arms out, hot wax soared through the air at Flymon, catching his wings and giving the rest of his body a serious burn. The wax quickly hardened upon hitting the ground, trapping the bug there.

"Candlemon, finish him before he gets free!"

"On it. **Flame Bomber!**"

Instead of the usual small fireball, Candlemon spat out a strong stream of fire, engulfing Flymon and instantly deleting him. The mass amount of data flew to Candlemon, who looked healthier the moment he started absorbing it.

**Battle Concluded. Tamer and Partner team 2 were Victorious. EXP raised by 30 points. Digivolution to Champion-level will be available in next battle. Combat Zone disengaged.**

Three Kunemon cards and a Flymon card flew to Dmitri, who caught them in the same unprepared fashion Colin had earlier. The two then exchanged looks, as their Digimon partners looked worryingly at them both, hoping another fight would break out.

"So, why'd you come back? Thought you were convinced I was a heartless asshole?"

"Could ask you the same thing. Didn't you not want to be associated with a 3rd rate Tamer such as myself?"

"Oh come now. You're at least a 2nd rate Tamer."

"Gee thanks."

Kumamon and Candlemon both exchanged their own irritated glance, before leaping up and smacking their respective Tamers on the head.

"Ow, Kumamon; what the hell?"

"Candlemon, what's your malfunction?"

"What's your's? Seriously, that Shamanmon might not have been wrong about you guys. You're more aggressive than ME!"

Dmitri turned back to Colin, confused, "What's he talking about? Who's Shamanmon?"

Sheepishly, Colin scratched the back of his head as he replied. "Eh heh, well apparently he's a Goblimon cousin who was impersonating your voice. Wanted to split us up so that some Kunemon and he could ambush us."

"We ran into them, and that Flymon was one of them. So, see now that I didn't say all that crap?"

"Sure, when you take back that incompetent crack along with all the other crap. I just down a Digimon and roughened up one you ran away from. Got the card to prove it." He pulled out his recently acquired Shamanmon card.

"And Kumamon can go Champion in our next battle."

Dmitri was about to retort, but then a shinai slammed down on him, before quickly assaulting Colin as well. Wielding said weapon was not Kotemon, but Asami, who looked rather steamed.

"Really! Is this how you two plan to apologize to each other? Alpha male posturing? Fess up and say you're sorry! **Now!**"

Not wanting to receive anymore treatments from the wooden sword, they both hastily bowed their heads to one another.

"Sorry!"

All three Digimon sighed, Kotemon shaking his head.

"Well, now that all that is taken care of…"

"Wait, what happened to that Digimon you were fighting?" questioned the cub, having noticed how their barrier had come down too. Asami just held up Crabmon's left over card.

"Really? Was there ever any doubt?"

"Hey, just saved his ass from drowning. Don't know if he's capable at fighting."

Kotemon eyed him from the side of his helmet, taking back his shinai from Asami and pointing it at the mouthy little bear. "I can easily teach you something's about fighting, furry."

Grinning, Kumamon raised his arms in anticipation, having seemingly forgotten how tired he was earlier. "Bring it on, Lizard chops."

Running toward one another, the two engaged each other with blows, neither of them calling out serious attacks while doing so. Asmai and Colin both looked at their D-Arcs, which were inquiring whether or not they wanted to verify the fight as official. They gave each and amused look and both hit '**Decline**' and watched as their partners duked it out.

Dmitri couldn't help but smile at the scene with the two. "Weren't they just calling us out for doing the same thing?"

* * *

><p>Fresh Forest, 4th hour and 1 minute spent.


	3. Chapter 3: We Are the Champions

02/06/2012

Disclaimer: I have never own, nor plan on owning Digimon, in any form. I just like to write silly scenarios and share them with others. Neither do I own anything else that belongs to Toei, be it Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, or the lyrics to their theme songs.

FanAuthor's Note: All reviews are much appreciated. I chose to start writing Fanfiction to get a feel on how people respond to my current writing style, so any feedback is again, much appreciated.

Chapter 3: We Are the Champions

_This is Colin Ursa, with my second recording for the MAGAMI Cooperation. I am aware that this recording is still within my first five hours of play through, but do to interruptions at the end of my last recording; I feel the need to add to things I've observed since then. I am traveling with two other players at this time, both of whom have some knowledge on how to navigate through the virtual world you have constructed. Not that this game is hard to trek through, but it certainly helps to be a fan of the series, as the two have proven to me in our short time together so far. I have not told them that I am reviewing the game for you, as per your request, and will continue to keep that a secret until instructed otherwise. Now, unto the in-game features I noticed. We seemingly are unable to know when we've pissed off a wild, roaming Digimon, as both by travel companions ended up angering both a hive of Kunemon and a Crabmon, causing them to enter a battle they weren't expecting. I myself was attacked by a Shamanmon, but considering that I had made an enemy out of the enemy group called the 'Ogremon Brothers', that was more expected than the ambushes my new friends had to deal with. We all made it through our battle with little trouble, but it would be nice for Digimon battle to me more clear cut. If we could just see a roaming Digimon, and pick a fight with it as opposed to accidently bumping into it and causing it to trail us secretly, I think that would appease many players who rather not be stalked. Well, I have only the one hour left, and I doubt anything of major importance will occur within that time, so our end this recording here. With Regards, Colin Ursa._

* * *

><p>Fresh Forest, 4th hour and 3 minutes spent.

Having fed their Digimon some of the remaining fish to recover their health, the Tamers had settled down a bit, after fighting at least three separate battles only moments ago, and having watched Kumamon and Kotemon's duel end in a sloppy draw, both of the Rookie-levels exhausted from before. When the Digimon had eaten all that they could (without weighing themselves down, something Kumamon seemed to not mind but was forbidden from trying), Colin asked what the others were thinking as well.

"Okay, so what do we do with the extra fish? Leave it here for the next hungry Crabmon?"

Dmitri answered, to the shock of both Colin and Asami, "Or we could just do this." He took off his D-Arc and held the screen in front of a pile of salmon. A light flashed out of it, and the pile digitized and flew into the digivice. The two other Tamer's jaws dropped, and they gave Dmitri a bewildered look.

"How did you do that?"

Smiling to himself, he replied, "I was toying around with my digivice, trying to see how it works earlier. You know, before the fight."

"Ah." Colin gave an awkward smile, "Right."

"Anyways, you mind showing us that little trick?" asked Asami, changing the subject.

Dmitri, still owing Asami for showing him a trick she had figured out, complied, and showed the two which menu to open up on their D-Arc, and finding the **Storage** option, hit the okay button once the digivice was facing the pile of salmon they wanted to store away. Deciding not to take all of the fish this time around, the two each took five salmon and left the rest for wild Digimon to feast on. It didn't occur to them that it's likely that the A.I. enemy Digimon didn't really need to eat, being made of data, but none of them felt that they needed that many salmon or tuna. None of them except Kumamon, that is.

"Seriously? Just five salmon? No tuna? Are you trying to starve me?"

Colin gave him an annoyed look, "Oh hush, you'll be fine." He then turned his attention to Asami. "So fearless leader, where to next?"

She blinked upon being called this, "Leader? When the hell did I become the leader?"

Dmitri chose to answer this, "When you chose to come to this damn forest, when you led us to that river, and of course-"

"-when you threatened the two of us with that wooden sword, and we did both back down after that. I kinda think that puts you in charge," finished Colin.

Taking this all in, she smiled a little. "Well okay then, guess I'm the resident goggle-head."

Both of the boys looked at her, Dmitri with amusement, while Colin took a while to get what she meant. Upon figuring it out, he also smiled, and added, "Well you'll have to be sure to look the part. Maybe you should buy a pair at the next village, or when we sign back on tomorrow?"

"Sounds like a plan. Which actually reminds me, how much time do you two have left for the day?"

Looking down at their D-Arcs, the three all saw that they had around 50 minutes left in the day, before their VR seats would shut off for safety reasons and not allow them access till at least 10:00 a.m. the next day.

"I've got about 48 minutes left, how about you guys?" Dmitri and Asami both nodded.

"Alright then, let's make the most of it. Asami, got any more ideas on where we should off to?"

"Oh, I've already chosen today. One of you two can decide."

Colin turned to Dmitri, "You wanna lead man?"

"Niet, I'm good. You clearly wanna get going, so you choose the path."

Seeing as everyone else was not in the mood to select the path, Colin surveyed the area. There was the path back down to primary village, likely full of more, angry Kunemon. There was also the path Asami had taken after the group's little misunderstanding. That was likely the clearest path, as the one he had taken he and Kumamon had gotten ambushed by Shamanmon. Deciding that Asami's choice was once again the safest bet, he motioned Kumamon to follow him as he went off in that direction. Seeing where he was going, the two other Tamers and their partners followed after.

* * *

><p>Download Plains, 4th hour and 13 minutes spent.

Emerging outside of the forest, the trio and their partners were greeted by the sight of vast, open plains of grass, hills, and of course, Digimon. Being still night time by the game's clock, the scene was light only by a full moon, which eerily shined behind the large mountain in the center of File Island. Colin just stared in awe of the artificial beauty constructed before him.

"Well damn. Just…damn."

"Nice choice Colin. Got to say, I couldn't have found a better place to set up camp," said Asami, patting him on his shoulder.

"Huh, set up camp? We can do that?""

"Wow, you really have no what idea what you're doing, do you?"

"Hey, like I said before, I literally just got into this game to play on my little brother's request. Do you really need to make me sound like a clueless idiot whenever I ask a simple question?

Seeing that she had struck a nerve, Asami raised both her hands up apologetically, "Hey, I don't mean it that way. I'm just saying it wouldn't have hurt for you to look up some stuff about the game beforehand."

Seeing that he had lightened up a bit, she went on to explain.

"Look, basically 'setting up camp' is the same as saving in this game, only since this is a Virtual Reality game, we can't just pause the game and scroll down to save on the menu. That is what these-" she waved the D-Arc attached to her arm about, "are for. Along with everything else, of course."

"Of course. So what, we search for 'tent' or 'campfire' on that thing and it'll pop out? Like the salmon?"

"Let's find out, shall we?" taking off her D-Arc, she began searching for the camping option. Upon finding it, she pointed her digivice at the hill ahead of them. Out of the digivice emerged an already set up green tent, with a sleeping bag, a lamp, and what looked like a little toilet. All three of the Tamers were surprised by the last item.

"Why would there be a toilet…oh no." the realization hit Dmitri as it did the others.

They all remembered having to clean after their Digimon in their Virtual Pets, and realizing how much they had fed the little guys in the past few hours, they fearfully turned around. They saw their partners clutching their respective stomachs, and the Tamers sweat dropped as they realized what the portable toilets were for.

_Well, at least the little toilets look portable; otherwise I could wake up to the most ungodly smell. _They all thought, and the boys proceeded to quickly find and let their own camp set out of their D-Arcs, so as to not have a line form at Asami's toilet for when their eventually had to go. And go they all did, a few feet away from where the tents where set up so as to not gag their Tamers. After they had been used, the toilets returned to inside the D-Arcs with any of the kids so much as pressing a button.

"Okay so, now that that's over, what's next?" said Colin, patting Kumamon's head as he fell asleep at his leg, all three of the Tamers sitting outside their tents with a campfire ablaze between all three.

"Well, by my time we all have about 45 minutes left and I'm not going to spend all my time sitting here."

Dmitri got up and surveyed the plains once more. He could see a herd of sleeping Kuwagamon to their far right, and not feeling suicidal, didn't think of messing with them. To the left of them was a little stream, where some Coelamon, a bunch of Crabmon, a flock of Kiwimon and a Betamon were drinking. Again, not a great idea, given their collective levels at the moment. However, over to the groups left, there was some sort of in-game event going on. A herd of Tapirmon seemed to have surrounded a BlackGatomon, as well as a Mikemon.

"Hey, something interesting seems to be going on over there. You guys want to go take a closer look?" Dmitri smiled as Candlemon perked up, flexing his wax arms and grinning.

"I'm good to go boss. I can't wait to try out my Champion-level!"

Colin turned to his own partner, "How about you, Kumamon? Okay with one last battle for today?"

"You know it!"

"Kotemon, are you good?" Asami seemed a little less eager to fight compared to the other two, given that Kotemon had nearly drowned earlier and his first fight left a much to be desired.

"I am fit and able, Mistress."

"Well then, let's go pay those guys a visit. Nice a quiet like though, I want to hear what they're saying first."

* * *

><p>4th hour, and 15 minutes spent.

The group crept over to the hill in front of the Tapirmon's location, and they all poked their heads over the top to see what was going. The conversation they heard was not one they expected to hear from Digimon.

"Hey there, pretty little BlackGatomon. What'cha doing with all alone out here? Don't you know that they're some dangerous Digimon out here in the plains? Someone could get hurt if they weren't looked after…"

"What, are we supposed to feel safe with a bunch of rookie-level pachyderms watching our backs? I feel _so_ safe now. Out of the way, rookies!" The shadowy Gatomon lookalike attempted to brush by a few Tapirmon in one of the circle's openings, but two of the Rookie-level Digimon stood their ground when she approached.

"Now why you got to be so mean, BlackGatomon?" replied the Tapirmon from before, who was standing outside the circle his herd had formed around the two cat Digimon.

"Why don't you just leave us alone, Tapirmon? You're always like this!" replied Mikemon, who was nervously eyeing the three Tapirmon that were glaring at him the most.

"Oh look, the useless mate can speak! Seriously, BlackGatomon, why do you hang out with this wimp? Especially when you could get with some real mon!"

"Mikemon is more of a reliable mate then your entire stinking herd DNA Digivolved together. Now get out. Of. Our. Way!" with that, BlackGatomon grabbed Mikemon by his paw, and leapt over the herd of Tapirmon, aiming for their leader outside the ring.

"You idiots, stop her!" he cried, as the BlackGatomon dropped down upon his head, and bounded off of him with her mate in paw.

* * *

><p>4th hour, and 21 minutes spent.

The group looked stunned at the scene that had taken place before them. Colin was the first to speak.

"…I thought Digimon didn't have genders, let alone mates."

"As did I, at least until a moment ago." Asami turned towards Kotemon's direction. "Then again, you guys do seem to come with gender-specific voices and appearances."

"While I would love to continue this discussion on our Digital lifestyle, Mistress, I think that couple could use our assistance." Said Kotemon, looking up at something in the dark sky.

"Why would they need our help, they just got away from…" Asami was saying this as she turned her head up, and saw a winged, four-legged creature fly in front of the moon for a moment, before diving towards BlackGatomon and Mikemon.

/4th hour, and 27 minutes spent.

"**Aerial Attack!**"

A ball of yellow energy struck the ground in front of the two cats, creating a crater and leaving Mikemon frightened.

"Oh no, it's Unimon."

BlackGatomon didn't look any worse for wear, or any less defiant, "Please, he's alone against the two of us. There's nothing to worry abo-"

"**Mirage Blaster!**"

A similar, white ball of energy struck Mikemon from behind, sending him flying into the descending Unimon.

"**Aerial Gallop!**"

Unimon's horn glowed as he struck Mikemon with it, causing him to slightly unravel and reform on the ground as he lay in pain.

"Mikemon! You bastards!" BlackGatomon swung around to see that the ring-leader Tapirmon had Digivolved into a ShimaUnimon, and was chuckling to himself.

Unimon neighed in amusement, smirking at the fallen Digimon before him.

"Come now, BlackGatomon. Are you really going to get worked up over this pathetic waste of data here? He's been a little baby since Primary Village, and is a stain to Champion levels everywhere. You really should have better taste in company."

"Go to hell! I am not interested in being your mate, Unimon. You were a sad, jealous little Tapirmon then, and you're just a pathetic bully now!"

Unimon growled.

"Well, we'll see how mouthy you are when I annihilate your boyfriend here!"

* * *

><p>4th hour, and 30 minutes spent.

Back over on the hill, Kotemon was unsheathing his shinai and Kumamon was tightening his paws.

"Okay, how about we choose a side and act Now?" this was less a request as it were a statement, as the little bear was already dashing down the hill towards the downed Mikemon, with Kotemon and Candlemon following closely behind.

"**Aerial Atta-!**"

"Kotemon, grab Mikemon now! **Bear-cub Punch!**"

Leaping at Unimon, Kumamon's fist connected with his jaw, knocking the blast off to his right side and leaving Kotemon free to dash over to the injured Mikemon, and quickly grab and relocate him over to their Tamers' position. Candlemon quickly bounded up and raised his arms at Unimon's wings.

"**Melted Wax!**"

Hot wax splashed onto Unimon's wings, trapping them together and weighing the Digimon down so that he couldn't take off, getting rid of his advantage. ShimaUnimon stared at the scene that had suddenly taken place in front of him, unsure as to what to do.

"Nice move, Candlemon." complimented Kumamon, forgetting that Candlemon shouldn't be able to hear him now, since he engaged the enemy first.

"Thanks!" The two Digimon looked at each other in amazement, surprised they could hear each other still. "Uh Dmitri, what's going on?"

In response, all three D-Arcs chimed in at the same time.

**Three-Man Tamer Team engaged with wild Digimon. Experience will be rewarded by effort put in.**

Kotemon, returning from dropping off Mikemon, brought his back up against Kumamon's and Candlemon's as he faced the ShimaUnimon, not wanting to leave them exposed to an attack from behind like Mikemon.

"Well, looks like we will all be working together for this battle. Try to keep up, bear."

Kumamon just grinned and fixed his hat on straight.

"Just don't cry when I leave you in the dust, lizard."

Unimon just stared at the tree cocky Rookie-level Digimon that had assaulted him, and then growled at them in frustration.

"I don't know or care who you are, but you're going to wish you hadn't interfered in stuff that doesn't concern you!"

He then turned his attention to ShimaUnimon, "Shima, get your act together and help me!"

Shaking his head as if he were asleep and just waking up, ShimaUnimon hastily replied with a "Yes, boss!"

The Tamers all pulled out their Digivolution cards, the eagerness to see their partners' Champion forms etched all over their faces. BlackGatomon had run over to their spot, and was caressing Mikemon, all the while giving her 'saviors' a weary glance.

"Who are you guys? Why are you helping us?"

Colin replied for all three of them. "We saw you two were in trouble, and felt like helping out. Do we need any other reason than that?"

BlackGatomon continued to have her guard up. "What do Tamers' care about a couple of wild Digimon? Don't think we'll become your spare pets or something."

"We don't expect anything out of you, we just…oh never mind," Asami turned to her friends, "You guys ready?"

"Ready!" came the reply from both Dmitri and Colin.

Pulling off their own little card slashing styles, they all slid the card through the D-Arcs on their wrists, with their computer voices chiming in unison.

**Digivolution Activated.**

The three partner Digimon were engulfed by what looked like large energy eggs, which had openings that allowed those on the outside to peek inside the eggs. Not waiting for their enemies to reformat properly, Unimon and ShimaUnimon attacked.

"**Aerial Attack!**"

"**Mirage Blaster!**"

The blasts collided with the eggs, but no seeable damage was done to any of them. Colin caught a glimpse of something with blue fur grow in the egg that held Kumamon, and when he looked over at his D-Arc at random, he noticed a little animated video depicting what was going on inside the egg. It showed Kumamon's fur and outer layer being brutally ripped off digitally, before being replaced with the bigger, bluer from he briefly saw in the actual egg.

Asami and Dmitri witnessed similar things on their D-Arcs, after watching Colin notice something on his. Asami was greeted with the sight of Kotemon shedding his armor for green skin and a rather native-looking outfit, with two knives and a large blade on his back, and Dmitri simply saw a giant flaming man form where Candlemon was.

Kumamon…digivolve to…**Grizzlymon! Hah!**

Kotemon…digivolve to…**DinoHyumon! Humph!**

Candlemon…digivolve to…**Meramon!**

The eggs then all violently busted open, revealing three Champion-level Digimon. The first was a blue furred grizzly bear, with a crescent moon shaped birthmark on its forehead, and red gauntlets attached to its forepaws. The second Digimon was a humanoid lizard, dressed in clothing one would find on a native of an undiscovered or lost tribe, and wielding three blades; two butcher knives in hand and a giant blade on his back. The third Champion could simply be described as a human being on fire, with a sewed up mouth that gave an eerie smile. Grizzlymon and Meramon turned their attention towards Unimon upon emerging, while DinoHyumon was still keeping his eye on the ShimaUnimon and the Tapirmon herd, who had joined up with ShimaUnimon as his backup.

"Meramon, how about you keep him grounded while I deal the heavy blows?" said Grizzlymon, and Colin noticed how gravely his voice sounded now, with little hint of his childish cockiness from before.

The human torch (hah!) smiled and answered, "Sounds like a plan. You good back there, DinoHyumon?"

The lizard man smiled. "Yes, and no, you can't have any of the Tapirmon. They are all mine."

With that, the three Champions separated. Meramon immediately went on the offensive.

"**Fireball!**"

A giant ball of flame rocketed towards Unimon, causing the winged horse to dash off to one side, but staying close enough to the flame to have it start to melt of some of the wax. It then charged down towards Grizzlymon, horn lowered.

"You want to take me on, little bear? Go on ahead! **Aerial Gallop!**"

As the energized Unimon bore down on him, Grizzlymon lazily got up on his hind legs and began to charge up his right paw.

"**Maul Att-**"

Unimon had already crashed into him, impaling his shoulder and running on before Grizzlymon could even raise the paw to strike him. _I used to be a lot faster at that. Guess size doesn't help that much._ Grizzlymon, biting back the pain, turned to Colin.

"Hey, quit gawking over there and load some cards! I could use some help here!"

Frowning, but realizing his partner was slower now and was right about needing his help, the boy took out two cards and slashed them in turn.

**Digi-Modify: Hyper Speed Activate**

**Digi-Modify: Cyclonemon Power Activate.**

Glowing from the new transfer of power, Grizzlymon chased after Unimon, who was now charging towards Meramon, clearly desiring to melt his wings free.

* * *

><p>4th hour, and 37 minutes spent.

"**Mirage Blaster!**"

The white ball of energy seemed to appear behind DinoHyumon, instead of simply missing him. The upright lizard was too fast for the zebra unicorn, dashing to his left or his right just seconds before any blast can touch him, making it almost appear that he's either untouchable or nearly intangible. Closing in on ShimaUnimon, DinoHyumon as greeted by a Tapirmon wall of defense, and they all shot off their attacks simultaneously.

"**Nightmare Syndrome!**"

DinoHyumon was assaulted by multiple black spirit like attacks, impacting off his raised blades in defense and knocking him backwards, others scratching at his arms and legs as they whizzed by him.

"Mistress…"

"On it, don't worry"

Taking out her own two choice cards, Asami ran them through, then brought out a third card just in case things went bad.

**Digi-Modify: Aero Wings Activate.**

**Digi-Modify: Stamina Activate.**

Feeling fortified and being given the power of flight, DinoHyumon took to the night sky, before dropping down through the ranks of Tapirmon, slashing as he went.

"**Lizard Dance!**"

A message popped up on Asami's D-Arc as soon as DinoHyumon's first hit landed.

**Now that your Digimon has reached its Champion level, you may now choose any battle music you would like to go along with your fights. Enjoy selecting from our huge list of battle themes.**

A little smile forming on her face, Asami typed 'Kamen Rider OOO' into the theme song select search and selected 'Got to Keep it Real'. All combatants noticed a strange sound emitting from DinoHyumon's position.

'_Gata Gata Gata!_'

Seeing only one wave of Tapirmon still in his way, the giant lizard charged forward, still spinning madly as the song kept going.

'_Gata Gata Gata!_'

Reaching the Tapirmon, he brought his butcher knives down upon them as well.

"**Lizard Dance!**"

'_Gata Gatakiriba! Gata Gatakiriba! Gata Gatakiriba! Gata Gata Gatakiriba!_'

Deleting the last of the herd that got in his way, he came upon ShimaUnimon, sheathing his two butcher knives and bringing out the huge blade on his back.

"**Akinakes!**"

'_Gata Gatakiriba! Gata Gatakiriba! Gata Gatakiriba! Gata Gata Gatakiriba_!'

The blade cleaved ShimaUnimon in half, his data flying into DinoHyumon as he dissipated. DinoHyumon stood still as the data was absorbed into his being.

"Shouldn't have gone around harassing young couples, you damn unicorn."

/4th hour and 42 minutes spent.

"You want more fire? I'll give you more! **Fireball!**"

Meramon shot out another fireball at the winged horse Digimon charging towards him, with a blue grizzly hot on its tail. Unimon sneered and veered to the left, moving only so much so as to let the fireball melt off the remaining wax off of his wing. Flapping both of his free wings, he began to lift off, but then a red paw smacked him from the side.

"**Maul Attack!**"

Grizzlymon had caught up with his target, and with a super-charged claw he swiped at Unimon, sending him crashing back down to the ground. Groggily getting to its feet, the unicorn glared at the two.

"**Aerial Attack!**"

The blast wasn't aimed so much at either of the two opposing Digimon as it were aimed at the ground before them, causing a shockwave that kicked up dust in their eyes and allowing Unimon to soar upwards.

"You two really are starting to get on my last nerve."

"Ah, and here I thought we were going to be friends." Grizzlymon sneered.

Colin got a message similar to Asami's after his partner landed his first blow, and realizing he didn't know any appropriate anime or tokusatsu theme music for the occasion, opted for the Prodigy's 'Pendulum Remix'.

"Grizzlymon, you need to end this battle quickly! Your card powers will expire soon, and we have little time left today as it is!"

"I know, we're working on it," the blue bear turned to Meramon. "You mind bringing the pony down again? Don't really have to many good ranged attacks."

"My pleasure." Crossing his arms, Meramon reopened them and cried out as his body expelled multiple fireballs skyward.

"**Magma Blast!**"

Unimon saw the incoming attacks, and frantically tried to counter it.

"**Aerial Attack! Aerial Attack!**"

The two orbs of yellow energy only collided with two of the fireballs, and the rest of them continued their path, colliding with Unimon. Shouting in pain, he once more landed unceremoniously in a heap.

"Ugh, no. I won't let it end this way."

Grizzlymon was already behind him when he landed, upright and right paw raised high.

"Sorry, but you really should have thought about that before you went and bullied such a lovely couple."

"**Maul Attack!**"

The red claw came down on Unimon, shattering his form and sending his data flying towards both Meramon and Grizzlymon.

**Battle Concluded. Tamer and Partner Team were Victorious. Total EXP gained: 145 points. Kotemon gained 55 EXP. Kumamon gained 30 EXP. Candlemon gained 40 EXP. Combat Zone disengaged. Warning: 5 minutes remaining for all players involved. Proceed to campsite for instant logging off or continue with current affairs till timer runs out.**

The three Digimon partners shined dimly, and reverted back to their Rookie-level forms. Kumamon stared at Candlemon, a look of amused shock on his face.

"How did you score higher than me in deleting that pony? I landed the finishing blow."

"Yeah, but I kept him from flying, and he never hit me."

"Sheesh, these digivices are fickle. What's this EXP thing they keep talking about every time we take out a Digimon, anyway?"

"I have no idea." They both turned to Kotemon, who gave them a blank look.

"Don't look at me; I have as much an idea as you two. What I do know, however," Kumamon could swear he saw a hint of a smile beneath Kotemon's mask, "Is that I scored higher than either of you two."

Candlemon and Kumamon playfully head locked and noogied Kotemon after that comment, with the blue lizard struggling to break free from their grip on him. The three Tamers laughed at their partners fooling around.

"Well, we did know this would be out last little event for the day." Dmitri pocketed his unused cards and walked over to where his partner was releasing Kotemon.

Colin turned towards the two cat Digimon, and saw that Mikemon had stabilized somewhat, now no longer losing bits of data or unraveling and reforming painfully. He moved towards the two, but BlackGatomon came between him and Mikemon the minute he got close.

"Hey, we just want to help out, calm down. Is your friend okay?"

"He's of no concern to you. Leave us alone."

"Hey pussy cat, I just risked by butt making your problem my concern! The least you can do in return is let my partner see if your boyfriend is okay!" Kumamon had appeared at Colin's side, not liking the way BlackGatomon was looking at him.

The cat gave both of them a fierce look, but then found Mikemon's weak paw clutching hers.

"B. Gal, they just saved our lives. They didn't have to, but they were nice enough to do so anyway. I think we can let them give me a few Power Charges, don't ya think?"

Softening a bit, BlackGatomon relented and stepped aside. Colin walked over and knelt by the lying form of Mikemon.

"Thanks for that. Well, I don't know about any 'Power Charges', but I do have some fish stored away. Will that help?"

Both of the cat Digimon eyes widened upon hearing 'fish', and Mikemon nodded vigorously, for someone who just moments ago was badly impaled. "Yes, that'll help greatly! Never mind the Power Charges, gimme some fish!"

Quickly letting out some of the salmon he had stored before, BlackGatomon and Mikemon leapt upon the small pile of fish and started scarfing them down. As they did so, the Tamers started to glow, as did their partners.

"Asami, what's going on?" asked Colin, looking down at his luminescent hands.

They all looked down at their D-Arcs, with the same message scrawled across their screens.

**Today's 5 hour session is complete. Ending Virtual Reality gameplay.**

Suddenly, all six of them were rocketing into the sky as beams of light, brightening the surrounding plain and startling the two feasting cat Digimon. Mikemon looked up from his meal, fur messed up and his face showing his clear shock.

"What just happened? Where did they go?"

* * *

><p>Cyber Sheep Main Lobby, 6:30 p.m.

Colin took off his Virtual Reality helmet, blink multiple times before his vision stopped being so blurry. Getting out of his chair, being sure to eject his Virtual Pet and pass, he stretched and yawned. Having been stuck in that chair for the past 5 hours, he felt rather stiff upon 'waking up'. Looking to his left, he saw Dmitri do about the same, scratching his head groggily.

"Man, I'm beat. And all I did was sit in a chair for five hours."

Dmitri nodded in agreement, "Da, I know. Clearly the VR taxes your mind enough to count any physical activity you think you're doing or stress your being put through as real. I'm just going to get a burger at the food court and head back to our room."

Colin yawned, while nodding back, "Yeah, I think that's a sound plan. Damn, it's only 6:30. Well, guess we'll be turning in early."

They walked out of the arcade and headed back to the main hotel lobby, noticing many other players leave their chairs as well as some new faces (still in their pajamas) enter the room and head for their chairs. Colin looked out for Asami amongst all the people, but couldn't find her amongst the crowd. _Must have been really tired and just slipped out early. I catch her next time._ Moving towards the area behind the registration desk, where the receptionist from before waved at Colin as they went by and we winked in return, they came across a spacious food court, with burger joints, sushi bars, Italian cuisine and more could be obtained. They both went over to one of the better burger joints and ordered 1 cheese burger with onions and tomatoes, and 1 bacon cheese burger with lettuce, fries and two sodas. On their way out, a young boy bumped into Dmitri and knocked his bag to the ground. Not bothering, he spoke over his shoulder.

"Watch where you're going, fool."

Colin grabbed his shoulder and turned him around, then dodged backwards as the boy threw a punch at him.

"Don't go touching people who haven't the time for your crap, kid."

"First off, don't call me kid. Secondly, you should probably apologize to my friend here, before I take offence you taking a swing at me."

The boy scoffed, "Why should I apologize, the big klutz should look where he is walki-"

After getting a better look at Dmitri, a glint of recognition shone in the boy's eyes as he gave the boy a displeased look that Colin didn't catch, and the boy closed his mouth without finishing his original sentence. He just stared at Dmitri, almost as if he was afraid of him, before mustering the nerve to speak again.

"Never mind, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, okay? Please don't take this personally," with that, he departed out of the lobby, taking the staircase up instead of waiting for the elevator.

"Geez, you had him spooked. Does that guy know you from somewhere?"

Dmitri's face was as blank as before, and he replied, "Never seen him before. Must have been spooked by my size, that's all."

Picking his food back up, he simply walked on to the elevator. Feeling that the matter was solved, Colin followed, not giving that strange change of behavior from the boy a second thought.

* * *

><p>Cyber Sheep Floor 7, 6: 51 p.m.

Returning to their room, the roommates ate their burgers in relative silence, then took turns using the bathroom and getting their stuff ready for tomorrow. Taking out his laptop while Dmitri was preparing to sleep, Colin started searching for free internet connections, having forgotten that he'd have to pay to use in his room.

"Hey Dmitri, do you know the password to any of the networks here?"

Smiling to himself, the boy replied back, "Did you forget so soon that I can get you online for free? Don't use any of those connections; they're all 3.5 seconds slower than need be anyway."

Taking the laptop from Colin (without really waiting for his 'okay'), he started fumbling about with its settings. Colin could only make out a few of the menus and program names he was opening, and only a third of them could he recognize from his level 1 computer science class in high school. When he was done, Dmitri gave back the laptop to Colin, an Internet Explorer browser opened already for him.

"Thanks man, completely forgot I had Dexter as a roommate."

Dmitri looked confused and a little hurt by this, "I'm not a serial killer."

"What? No, the Cartoon Network boy genius named Dexter."

"Oh right. I miss that show."

"Yeah, me too. Anyway, better email my brother before he falls asleep."

"When does he normally fall asleep?"

"Well if he has homework he's allowed to stay up till 9, but my mom prefers it if he goes to sleep at 7:30, since his medicine makes him drowsy anyway and he feels better the next day when he's gotten the most sleep."

"Ah, right. Give your brother my best wishes for me," crawling into his bed, Dmitri covered himself and went silent.

Waiting until he heard snores come from his roommate, Colin took out his game pass, and attaching a scanning device to his laptop, slid the pass through the device. Options came up on his screen for images folders and video logs, of which he chose the video logs and opened up his email on the browser. Attaching the two journal entries he made that day and sending it to _MAGAMI Review Mail_, Colin then opened up a message he addressed to Jack, and attached a video log his digivice had recorded of his journey so far. _I hope I don't seem too much of a noob to him._ Typing up a loving message to his younger sibling, he sent the mail and logged out, bringing down his laptop screen. Checking his V-Pet to see a sleeping Kumamon, he smiled to himself and set it on his night stand, tucking himself in and drifting off soon after into slumber.

/End of Day 1.


	4. Chapter 4: Headed North

02/14/2012

Disclaimer: I, Fan Rider Ryu, own nothing belonging to Toei Animation, Toei Broadcasting, The Prodigy, or any other lyrics and/or characters within. I simply write ridicules stories based off such works.

FanAuthor's Note: Alright guys, now on my fourth chapter. Hope to get some feedback from some of you guys soon, and any critique is welcome and asked for.

Chapter 4: Heading North

/Cyber Sheep Floor 7, 7:05 a.m.

The smell of bacon and boiled eggs was drifting around a certain room on the Cyber Sheep Hotel's 7th floor. Dmitri was happily munching away at his breakfast, one sandwich in hand and another left unmarked on a plate besides him. He sat at the one desk the room had, turning his gaze towards his now waking roommate.

"Morning, care for a sandwich?"

Colin wiped his eyes clean, and stared with half-awake eyes at the bacon and egg sandwich that sat on a plate, almost welcoming him to devour it.

"Don't mind if I do."

He reached out for the sandwich, only for his hand to be smacked away by Dmitri.

"Aren't you going to brush your teeth first?"

Giving his roommate a '_What are you, my mother?_' look, he stumbled out of his bed and headed for the bathroom. A few minutes later, with his face washed and breathe smelling minty fresh; he went again for the sandwich (this time meeting no opposition) and went about consuming it.

"So, you have any plans before you head back in the VR?"

"Aren't we going together?" asked Dmitri, wondering if his new friend had gotten bored of him already.

"What, of course we are. I just thought you'd want to go the store or take some things to the laundry room first."

"Oh, right. Nah that stuff can wait till later. Let's get a move on, don't want to keep your girl waiting." With that, Dmitri head off to the bathroom with a fresh set of clothes in hand.

"How is Asami 'my girl'? We've met once, and spent a total of 5 hours together."

"What? I can't hear you; the water's rather loud in here."

No tap was actually running at the moment, a fact Colin knew perfectly well.

"You heard me, I said how is…"

The shower head had just been turned on, and Dmitri could be heard singing over the roar of the water.

"What? I still can't hear you friend, you'll have to wait till I'm done."

"Smart-ass."

/Cyber Sheep Main Lobby, 7:19

"Did she happen to mention to you when she'd be heading back online?"

They were passing the reception office on their way to the arcade, where the receptionist Colin had charmed yesterday winked seductively at him, which Colin returned. Dmitri missed this exchange as he answered Colin's question.

"No, must have slipped her mind. What, worried your girl's gone and found someone else to party with?"

Colin sighed and responded, "For the last time, she is not my girl."

Before either of them could continue arguing the point, the receptionist had appeared in front of Colin, holding a card out to him.

"Sir, sorry to bother you, but you seemed to have dropped this yesterday. I wanted to make sure you got it back."

Smiling, as he knew he had dropped no such thing, he took the card politely.

"Thank you, angel. Nice to know someone's watching out for us guests."

"It's my job sir. Have a pleasant day." With that, she walked off back to her desk, her co-worker stifling a giggle as she took her seat.

"What was that all about?"

"Why, I simply forgot my card yesterday. That lady was nice enough to give it back to me."

"Lady? She's barely older than me. She's like what, 25, 27 tops."

Colin smiled to himself hearing this, "Yeah, I know."

"What's on the card?"

Showing Dmitri the card, he could see a phone number and room number were written over a standard hotel services card.

"Okay, when and how?"

Colin put on a face of mock confusion as they entered the arcade and headed for the 2nd floor.

"Why whatever do you mean, 'when and how'?"

Dmitri smirked and took his seat at a terminal, "All right playboy. You don't want to tell, by all means stay quiet. Maybe I won't let slip to Asami what a player you are."

"Dude, for the last time, she is not my…"

Dmitri was already under the effects of the VR machine, so Colin's words fell on deaf ears. Taking his own seat next to him, he proceeded to place his V-Pet and Pass Card in their respective slots, and slip his helmet on.

"See you inside, smart-ass."

* * *

><p>Digi-World Loading Screen, 1st hour

**Welcome back, Tamer. Did you sleep well?**

Colin did not seem amused, "I swear to the high God, if you drop me into the game again, I'm gonna find a way to infect you with a Trojan."

**Whoa, no need to be hostile now. Why would I do such a thing?**

Colin glared aimlessly at the white void he was floating in. Suddenly, a menu appeared out of nowhere in front of him, offering him to select the new clothes or the outfit he had on last time. Pressing his finger against the option for his old outfit, the one with the red tie, he suddenly flashed brightly before having his clothes return to his person. A mirror appeared before him once more, this time showing something shocking to Colin.

"Why do I have a scar over my left eye?"

**You gained that scar during your tussle with Goblimon. Due to players not experiencing extreme pain in this game, you weren't away you had gained one in game till now. We can easily have it removed if you so wish.**

Colin thought about it for a moment, then shook his head, "Nope, I'm keeping it. Makes me look more awesome than usual."

**As you wish.**

The mirror went away, and a flash of light emitted to the right of Colin. When it dimmed down, Kumamon floated in its place.

"Hey Colin, where are we?"

"Loading screen, buddy. Wait a second; they'll have us back by our campsite in just a second."

"What's a loading screen?"

Colin sweatdropped, remembering that the little bear didn't know he was part of game.

"Just wait and see."

They both flashed again, and the computer voice spoke once more.

**Player and partner Digimon to be sent to last pitched campsite. Launching!**

"Wait, what do you mean launchinggg?"

Both orbs of light rocketed downward, the white void dispersing as they flew down once more to File Island, towards a tent near the North East of the island.

"BASTAAAAAA-"

* * *

><p>Download Plain, 1st hour

"Candlemon, do you hear something?"

The usually silent candle Digimon listened for a seconded, then nodded.

"Yeah, it sounds like someone saying 'taaaaa'"

"TAAAARRRRDDDD!"

Two orbs of light rocketed down to the campsite, only to stop suddenly before touching the ground, and reformatting into Colin and Kumamon.

"…I really hate whoever is the guy behind porting my butt down here."

Dmitri chuckled a little, "Yeah, they seem to like tossing you down here like a rock, don't they?"

"You mean to tell me that you landings are smooth sailing?"

"Yup, pretty much."

Staring darkly at his friend for a moment, the boy lightened up and looked around the campsite, noticing that only his tent was still up.

"Okay, so where's Asami?" He quickly added, "And don't start that 'my girl' crap again."

Smirking, the college boy replied "She left this note, and a little hand-drawn map with it."

Taking the note and stretching out the map, Colin checked its contents.

_Colin and Dmitri,_

_If you're reading this and not currently headed with me towards Popsicle Town, then I must have gotten up earlier than you two. Here's a map of the way there; I'm headed there with BlackGatomon and Mikemon, they seem to know the way. You two should head there as well, and buy supplies. Watch out for those Goblimon who want your head._

_Asami_

There was a little heart drawn next to her name. Colin smiled after reading this and checked the map, which he figured the two cat Digimon had drawn. The scratches and holes left in the paper being evidence for this theory. It seemed simple enough. The path showed that they should walk towards the thin grouping of trees to the right of the plain, and continue on a path found in the woods there.

"Okay then, guess she couldn't wait. Hey Kumamon, ready to level up past these guys?"

His partner gave him the thumbs up (paw up), "Like you even have to ask. Let's go!"

The little bear had begun sprinting off again, to the left of the plains and away from the trail showed on the map.

"We're going that way, buddy." Colin pointed in the direction the cub should be heading, and he altered his course to do so.

Dmitri and Candlemon playfully laughed at this, and Colin chuckled a bit himself, as he pointed his D-Arc at his tent and absorbed it back inside.

"Shall we follow my enthusiastic silly, old bear?"

"Sure, but don't have any illusions of out-leveling Candlemon and me."

The three jogged (Candlemon hopped quickly) after the quick little cub, into yet another set of trees.

* * *

><p>Flake Woods, 1st hour and 5 minutes spent.

"Not tuckered out yet?" Colin cried out, his partner still a good few paces ahead of them.

"Nope, hurry up you slow pokes!"

The Tamers were not in any real hurry to speed along, taking in the scenery of the sudden tundra like appearance the game had taken on as they entered the woods. There was little to not like about the woods they were in. the soft snow, the pleasant chill in the air, the glaring pair of trees blocking their way up ahead…

Wait, what?

"Colin, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" asked Dmitri, his hand moving for his card pack just in case.

"You mean the two Halloween like leafless trees baring Kumamon's way? Yeah I see them." Colin also moved for his cards, all the while the two of them walked on over to the trees.

"Let me refresh my memory a bit." Dmitri opened up a menu on his D-Arc and scanned one of the two tree Digimon before him.

**Identification: Woodmon. Champion-level Digimon. Attacks are Branch Drain and Woody Smash.**

"Ooh, another Champion eh? Sounds like fun." Colin was about to swipe a card, but Dmitri held him back.

"Wait a minute, friend. This may just be a misunderstanding. Let's not start any unnecessary trouble." Walking up to the Woodmon, he addressed them both, with Candlemon in tow.

"Greetings, mind if we pass through here? We're just trying to get to Popsicle town."

The Woodmon to the left of him snorted, while the one on the right responded gruffly, "And we want to have some of that Download Plain sunlight, while the day is still young. Step aside, fleshy."

"No need to be rude, comrade. We can easily step aside if you're in a hurry."

Now both the Woodmon snorted, "Hah, that's a good human. Let your betters pass, we ain't getting any younger. I feel like I'm gonna turn into a Cherrymon any day now."

One of the Woodmon started to move forward, but then Dmitri bared His way.

"I'm sorry, what was that last comment? 'Let your betters pass' was it?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Well, all I see before me is a glorified jumble of twigs. When my better gets here, I'll be sure to let him by. Course, we'll be here for a while till that happens, so why don't You two step aside? Us Tamers and partner Digimon have more important places to be than chatting with some future firewood."

The Woodmon turned scarlet hearing this, and brought his arm up in fury.

"You DARE talk to us that way? **Woody Smash!**"

He brought his arm down in the dirt, as Dmitri had back-stepped in time to dodge the blow, smiling as he went.

"Have it your way." He took out his Digivolution card and swiped it through his D-Arc.

**Digivolution Activate.**

A familiar egg formed around Candlemon, who had started rushing towards the sentient trees.

Candlemon…digivolve to…**Meramon!**

The human tor- flame came upon the two tree Digimon, and drew out both his palms towards each of them.

"**Fireball!**"

Both Woodmon busted into flame, before dispersing into data and being absorbed by Meramon.

**Battle Concluded. Tamer and Partner were Victorious. Woodmon (2x) deleted. EXP raised by 60 points. Combat Zone disengaged.**

From where the two Woodmon were, two cards came flying towards Dmitri, who skillfully caught both without dropping them. He then turned to see both Colin and Kumamon crossing their arms and giving both him and Candlemon a cross look.

"You just wanted to hog those two for yourselves, you rat bastard."

Dmitri couldn't help but smile a little, "What, why would I do that? Is it my fault you were slow to engage them? Or that Meramon is naturally able to quickly delete nature Digimon like them?"

Choosing the let this playful slight go, the boy and his cub walked by the other two without another word, and continue on down the path shown on the map.

"Dmitri?"

Surprised at his silent partner suddenly becoming vocal, Dmitri replied, "Uh yeah Candlemon? What's up?"

"Maybe we should let those two get the next one, just to be fair, huh?"

Moving a hand down to pat his partner, then thinking against it as he would likely singe his hand, Dmitri settled on friendly smiling down at the animate candle and nodding.

"Sure thing."

* * *

><p>Flake Woods, 1st hour and 10 minute spent.


	5. Chapter 5: Headed North part 2

02/23/2012

Disclaimer: Own not, do I, any Digimon, Kamen Rider (lyrics), or other pop culture/meme related content found in this fanfic. A mere fan of Digimon, I am.

FanAuthor's Note: Reviews are welcome and desired.

Chapter 5: Heading North part 2

_This is Colin Ursa, with yet another recording for the MAGAMI Cooperation. This is my second day of playing online, and I am currently headed north of File Island with a new friend of mine. Nothing really out of the ordinary happened, nor have I notice any glaring glitches in the game. Well, best get back out there before I'm completely out-classed._

* * *

><p>Flake Woods, 1st hour and 15 minutes spent.

The four travel companions found their way to the top of a hill, Colin once again winding up in the back as he finished recording his recap for MAGAMI. Coming up to where the other three were standing, he was greeted by the sight of a village comprised of igloos, small ones and a couple of big ones, all of which had chimneys. He could also see a few Tamers ice-skating with their partners and friends over on a frozen lake to the left of the village. _Well, we made it here in good time. Let's see where little Miss Asami has gone off to._

Exchanging looks with Kumamon, Dmitri, and even Candlemon, he continued on down the path towards Popsicle Town.

/Popsicle Town, 1st hour and 16 minutes spent.

The boys wandered around the entrance of the town, looking at the directory stuck in the ground.

_To the __Gargomon Armory__: go straight and then turn left at the first intersection._

_To the __Elder's Hall/Mission Building__: go straight and enter the huge igloo in the center of town._

_To __Frigimon's Supply Shop__: head towards the Gargomon Armory, and it's the building to the right of it._

_To the __Mojyamon Spa__: go straight and then turn right at the first intersection._

Looking away from the directory and turning to the busy town, the four saw a bunch of NPC Digimon going about their supposed 'business' and other Tamers giving each other aggressive looks as they went by. As the NPCs walked by the other Tamers, they greeted them automatically with a hollow 'Pleasant day,' which most were responded to with rude gestures or simple dismissal. The four had a collective sweatdrop moment, and sighed.

"Dmitri, did that note happen to mention _where_ she would likely be waiting for us?" Colin asked, not feeling up to asking the rather unfriendly-looking other players where their friend had gone off to.

The other boy pulled out the note and checked, and shook his head as he returned it to his pocket.

"No such luck, comrade. Looks like we're going to have to ask around."

Spotting a raven-haired Tamer with a Penguinmon coming up to them, Dmitri tried his luck with him first.

"Excuse me, have you seen a red-haired…"

"Shove off, Ruskie. Got places to be." The boy breezed by them, missing the venomous glare that Dmitri sent his way.

"Easy, Dmitri; Ignore the bastard. Let me try." Colin looked around, and saw another Tamer, this one a girl with dyed green hair and a ponytail, walking near them. _A lot of interesting hair-styles in this game, aren't there?_

"Hey babe, help some guys out would ya? We're looking for a girl, a little shorter than you. Red dyed hair with natural brown tips, dressed like some sort of adventuring heroine. Have you seen her around?"

The girl responded with flipping them the bird, not even looking in their direction as she and her Alraumon walked on by. The Alraumon looked miserable in this environment, which is to be expected for a darker version of Palamon, as it's just as much a plant Digimon as Palamon are.

"Okay, so does everyone online suck, or just the ass-wipes in this town?"

Dmitri laughed, "Easy, Colin; mustn't let them get to you."

Grumbling, the boy was about to walk further into the town, deciding to search each damn building till he found their missing teammate, when he felt someone short tugging his pants. Looking down, he saw a white version of Agumon trying to get his attention.

"Hi sir. I heard you're looking for a human girl, with red hair you say?"

Surprised at how helpful the NPC Digimon was trying to be, in comparison to the actual humans he had tried talking to before, Colin just blinked dumbly and nodded his head.

"And did this girl travel with a Kotemon, BlackGatomon, and Mikemon by any chance?"

Again, Colin nodded, this time adding a, "Yeah, that's right. You've seen them?"

Nodding himself, the SnowAgumon then pointed a claw towards the Elder's Hall.

"I saw her go into the Elder's Hall. You can't miss a sight like her, a rookie Tamer with three Digimon following her already."

Realizing that the little lizard thought that their friend was master to all three, the group sweatdropped in amusement.

"Heh, she's not quite the boss of all three of them. BlackGatomon and Mikemon are just guiding her, though I'm not sure why." Dmitri stopped to ponder what secret in the game Asami must have discovered to get two NPC Digimon to follow her about.

SnowAgumon sweatdropped and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. BlackGatomon isn't really one to follow humans about, and maybe her being BlackGatomon's Tamer was a bit of a stretch. Should have thought about that more."

Kumamon raised an eyebrow, and asked the question they all were thinking before anyone else could, "Wait, you know BlackGatomon? Our BlackGatomon?"

"The one the girl was travelling with? Sure, she and her mate Mikemon come to town all the time. They spend most of their time helping out at the Spa, where I work too. You should come by later."

Both of the Tamers shared a look the Digimon didn't catch, similar thoughts running through their heads. _Okay, MAGAMI put way to much thought into the characterizations for these little guys. They feel and act like actual living creatures. This is starting to get strange._

Dmitri looked down at his ever silent partner Candlemon, who was trying not to stand too close to SnowAgumon, for fear that he might melt him. _He barely ever says a thing, yet when he does, he's either trying to please everyone or tell a joke. That's all probably just pre-programmed reactions to make the game more fun. Of course it is, Dmitri, get a hold of yourself. You're starting to sound like you think any of this is real. It's just a very expensive digital illusion. It's a game, nothing more._ He looked down at his D-Arc, where a little meter that you wouldn't notice at first glance unless you knew where to look, was slowly showing a downloading bar filling up the meter. _A game my friends will love decoding, copying, and distributing the motherboard, engine, and all the other works of art that make this Virtual Reality for free of back home. Thank god the U.S. is laxer on the security for this game._

Similarly, while SnowAgumon was chatting away with Kumamon, Colin was deep in his own thoughts. _Okay, so at first I thought it a little odd how little Wanyamon knew about the game. I mean sure, he's a V-Pet model, not one I bought in game or anything, but you think he'd come with a free instruction manual to play Digi-World Online. Instead, we both end up getting through things mainly by luck, and now we're pretty much the lowest-level duo of our group. Still, I'm more concerned by the little guy's curiosity. Why does he ask so many questions, if he's just a pile of data programmed to fight, eat and sleep? He is just a pile of data, right?_

"…earth to Colin. Yo, Colin!"

"Dmitri, can you hear me? You haven't fallen asleep standing up, have you?"

Snapping out of their little trances, the two Tamers saw only their partners standing by them, looking up at them in confusion.

"Hey, why were you guys ignoring us?" asked Kumamon, a look of hurt in his eyes.

Patting the little bears head and hat, Colin smiled down at him, "Sorry, was just thinking about something and forgot where I was. Where'd did the white Agumon go?"

Candlemon spoke up, "SnowAgumon said he had to get to work, so he told us where in the Elder's Hall we could probably find Asami."

"Well then let's not waste any more time." Dmitri went first, followed by the other three, his thoughts still on how eerily real that NPC Digimon's reactions were to their questions. Suddenly, that thing the Elecmon from Primary Village had said before rang through his head.

_"Yeah, the little bear over there with the cocky attitude is just a programed response unit, and I'm just a mouthy avatar to some fired programmer, __**RIGHT**__? Don't pretend to know everything, kid. Just makes people want to throttle you."_

* * *

><p>Elder's Hall, 1st hour and 35 minutes spent.

The hall was quite similar to the one in Primary Village, with a whole Viking hall like feeling to it. An obvious difference was the increased amount of fireplaces and fur lining the walls and floors. The furs actually resembled Ikkakumon and Garurumon, but the Sorcermon council assured those present that they were not the actual skins of said Digimon.

Asami had found herself a nice lounge chair for both her and Kotemon to rest in, while BlackGatomon and Mikemon sat at the rest area's bar, dining on the selection of fish offered there.

Kotemon, his yellow eyes seeming to half-open, as if trying to resist sleeping in such a comfortable chair, turned towards his Tamer.

"Mistress, how long are we going to wait for the others? We could easily take on a mission without them."

Half-asleep herself, she yawned and answered back tiredly, "That would be rude, Kotemon. We said we were a team, and it wouldn't be right to go off having fun without them."

Nodding in deference to her reasons, Kotemon gave voice to something that had been troubling him.

"I've been curious about something since I woke up back at camp, Mistress. Where exactly do you and your companions come from, that requires you to appear and leave as you do? Before you chose me to be your partner a day ago, I had never thought about where the Digimon Tamers go when they leave their partners, but now I must know."

Stirring a bit, and looking uneasy due to the nature of the question, Asami searched her mind for an appropriate way to deflect the question. Instead, she finally decided upon the truth.

"We go back to the real world, Kotemon. We can only play this game for up to five hours. It's unhealthy for our minds to wander that long."

"A game? Mister Colin spoke similarly to the bear, but I'm still unclear as to what you mean by it."

Sighing, and hoping to phrase what she had to say sensitively, Asami continued.

"This island, this whole Digi-World, is nothing more than a video game. A Virtual Reality project, using you and the other Digimon from Toei and Bandai's licensed merchandise as a test run game. Colin, Dmitri and I are just players who like Digimon, and came to play for fun."

The little blue lizard didn't move or seem to have heard her at first, but then he just asked another question, as calm as before.

"So we are just part of some form of entertainment for you? The fight we had the other night with Unimon and his herd was just set up as sport for you and your friends?"

Feeling very uncomfortable now, Asami cursed MAGAMI Corporations in her mind. _Damn it, why did the developers have to create these guys with such in-depth personalities? I just wanted to have fun, explore a different world; not feel like some sort of sick dog fight promoter._

"Look, Kotemon…"

"I understand, Mistress. You have come here seeking entertainment; you want to watch Digimon fight each other for your amusement. That must explain the missions, all Sorcermon seemed to talk to you about was destroying a rogue Ikkakumon, or scaring off some Penguinmon that fish where they're not wanted. As your partner, I am a tool to be used towards that end."

Regretting having told him the truth, Asami got out of her lounge chair and reached over for Kotmeon's shoulder. He didn't so much shrug off as shift his position the minute she touched him.

"I am duty-bound to follow your lead, as it would seem. Therefore, it'll also be my duty to entertain you with more meaningless fights till you grow bored and 'stop playing'."

He rolled over, turning his head away from Asami and seemingly falling asleep again in his chair. Saddened, she dropped her hand and was heading back to her chair; when she spotted four familiar faces enter through the main doors.

Colin spotting Asami first, waved at her, but stopped when he saw the sad look on her face. _What's up with her?_ The four headed over to the rest area, Kumamon plopping down in an open chair and Candlemon…eating some of the fire in the fire place.

"Hey, looks like we found you," said Colin.

Trying to smile back, Asami replied, "Yeah, you found me."

Colin gave her a concerned look, "You okay?"

"Never better."

"So, what exactly are we doing here again?" chimed in Dmitri, not caring for where their conversation was likely to lead to.

"Right, sorry for not waiting for you guys. Those two-" she pointed over at the Gatomon couple, who were still devouring fish, "didn't feel obligated to wait for _all_ of us, despite us saving their hide last night. They said that we could stock up on supplies and items here, since we didn't get to grab anything when we started off," the whole group looked at Kumamon, who unapologetically smiled back at them, teeth bared wolfishly.

"Yeah, saw the signs on the way here. By the way, this place gives out missions or something?" Dmitri said.

"Uh-huh, right over there in the Sorcermon's court. We were waiting for you guys before going to get one, since we're a team an all."

Kotemon didn't react at all to the conversation or the arrival of his fellow Digimon, still sleeping or pretending to in his lounge chair.

"Well since we are all assembled here, let's go find us a quest, shall we?" turning his attention to the feasting cat couple, Colin addressed them, "Hey, BlackGatomon and Mikemon, you guys good here, or you want to come adventuring with us?"

Mikemon moved as if to go with them, but a paw from BlackGatomon sat him back down in his stool. Mikemon sadly shrugged at the gang, and turned around back in his seat to finish his 7th course.

"Guess the cats aren't coming."

Asami went over and shook Kotemon gently, who popped out of his seat and stood at attention besides her, not looking up in her direction or saying a word. The other four hadn't noticed the awkward silence that seemed to pass between the two, as they headed for the court of Ice Wizard Digimon.

* * *

><p>Sorcermon's Court, 1st hour and 40 minutes spent.

"Welcome, Tamers. Of what service can we Sorcermon be to you?" came the monotone greeting of the lead Sorcermon. Out of seven blue colored Wizardmon that sat in court, dimly lighted by eerie blue lights, the leader sat on a high chair, similar to the one the Elecmon leader in Primary Village had sat on.

"Hi there. My friends and I are looking for a quest to take. Nothing to extreme, since our Digimon-" began Dmitri, before the Sorcermon Head cut him off.

"-are only level 3 Champions at the most. Yes, we sensed their levels as you entered. We have just the task for you three. You shall be working together, if I am correct?" for an emotionless voice, it was rather patronizing.

"…Yes, we shall be working together," replied Dmitri, not liking being interrupted.

"Right then, your mission, if you choose to take it,"

Colin's thoughts immediately brought up an image of spies hanging on cables and sticking to the sides of buildings.

"-is to sort out the Icemon/Gizamon dispute over at Mirror Lake, west of the town. They are disrupting play time for other players,"

Kotemon shifted angrily in his place, but no one besides Asami seemed to notice.

"-and will likely give your partners a significant boost in power once you load enough of them."

"I see you three have made it this far."

The entire room turned around, to find an Elecmon standing in the doorway, a familiar smirk etched on his face.

"You're that rogue Elecmon from Primary Village," said Colin, earning himself an annoyed look from the Elecmon.

"'That rogue Elecmon'? Thanks kid, that's exactly how I want to be referred to."

"You didn't exactly give us any other name to call you," said Dmitri.

"True. Guess you can just call me Shin, like that name well enough. Or Elecmon, either one's good."

"Speaking of which, I never thought about naming you, Kumamon," said Colin, looking down at his partner.

"Didn't think I needed any other name. But since we're choosing, how about 'Maul'?" replied the little cub, checking out his paws as he thought up the name.

"Yeah, that's a nice enough name. Suits you well enough."

"Yeah yeah, that's nice and all, but how about we get a move on before you all get sappy and start naming your partnership 'Colaul' or something stupid like that," said Shin (Elecmon), clearly not having lost his attitude from before.

"We're exactly do you suggest we head to? We haven't even confirmed the mission yet," said Dmitri, having seemingly adopted the role of talking back to the mouthy Digimon.

Turning his attention back to the Sorcermon, he saw as did the rest of the group that their staffs where drawn, cool air forming around them menacingly.

"What is an Anomaly doing in our presence? And why does it seem to know you three?"

"Relax, Not-Wizardmon; I'm a friendly Anomaly, honest. I'm just here to make sure these three actually find Mirror Lake. Wouldn't want them getting lost like the last two that you sent, now do we?"

Giving Shin a cold, threatening look, the Head Sorcermon powered down his staff and retook his seat, his eyes going blue and numbers running across them as he did. Returning to normal shortly after, he took up his staff and pointed it at the three.

"Which one of you is the party leader?"

Stepping forth, rather reluctantly, Asami spoke up, "I am."

Shooting out a blast from his staff, Asami instinctively brought up her arms, and the bolt of energy struck her D-Arc, as it began to chime.

**Mission received. Proceed with dealing with rowdy Icemon and Gizamon.**

"What the hell? Give a girl some warning before you start blasting at her!" looking down, she saw that Kotemon had come forward after the 'attack' was launched, clearly not angry enough at her to leave her open to assault.

"Our…apologies. We weren't aware that was perceived as threatening. Proceed with you mission and return back for rewards, but please leave the Anomaly at the gate or at the very least outside of the village prior to returning."

"Love you guys too. Right then, shall we go now?" not waiting for their answer, Shin left the Sorcermon's court.

"Are we going to rush on after him, or get those supplies we needed from before?" asked Colin, not in the mood to deal with the little red rabbit at the moment.

"Supply store, we'll meet 'Shin' and the town entrance," replied Asami.

The group, without so much as a 'goodbye', turned and exited from the court themselves, heading outside.

* * *

><p>Popsicle Town, 1st hour and 45 minutes spent.

"So, what's first on our shopping spree?" asked Dmitri, hoping to check out the Gargomon's Armory first.

"We should hit up Frigimon's Supply Shop first, as we may need more than some fish to heal and charge up our partners," said Asami, while heading in the direction of the Armory.

They made the rest of the way in silence, Asami not in the mood to talk and the other two not having much to say. The newly christened 'Maul' looked from one Tamer to the next; curious as to why whenever they locked eyes with him, they seemed to quickly look away, as if embarrassed. Even Colin, who was seemingly okay a moment before.

Finally, the awkward group stumbled upon a little Digimon marketplace. Remembering the directions from the sign, Asami spotted a giant green rabbit, with machine guns attached to each arm, and saw to the right of his stall was one with what looked to be a sentient snow bear. Moving towards that one, she addressed the bear.

"You're Frigimon, right?"

The snow bear replied in a kind, yet still blank monotone.

"Yes dear, I'm the owner of this stall. How may I help you?"

"My friends and I are interested in buying some healing and support items. What would you suggest, since we're new to this game?"

Taking a moment to apparently think, the Frigimon responded.

"Well, for new players such as yourself,"

Kotemon seemed to annoyingly shift again at the word 'player'. Maul noticed him fold his arms, and could swear he saw him scowl under that mask of his.

"I would suggest getting 5, maybe 10 Power Charges each, and perhaps some Weak Codes to keep from running out of Battle Cards to soon in a fight. How does that sound?"

Shrugging, Asami asked, "How much should that cost all of us?"

"About…250 bits each. Sounds fair, doesn't it?"

Both of the boys' mouths dropped, outraged at what they had heard.

"250 bits? How the hell are scrubs like us going to get 250 bits in our first day?"

Looking back at her friends, and with an annoyed look in her eyes, she simply pointed to her D-Arc. The two browsed through their own, until they came across a folder that read **Total Amount of Bits Collected**, and noticed that they had at least 1500 bits each. Sheepishly turning back to Asami, Colin spoke for them both.

"…the game works similar to Japanese currency, doesn't it?"

"Something like that, yeah. Done freaking out?"

"Yeah, sorry."

The Tamers went ahead and bought the Power Charges and Codes (the Charges meant to restore health and the Codes to refresh already used cards), but the items seemed to be only digital in nature, as lights just flashed across the teams' D-Arcs reading **'Items Transferred, 250 bits spent.'**.

Frigimon nodded and beamed.

"Thank you for you purchase. Have a nice day."

They headed over to Gargomon's stall next. Dmitri came up to Asami and patted her on the shoulder.

"How about I take this one, Asami? If you don't mind."

Motioning with her hands for him to move up, Dmitri came up to the stall and spoke to the huge rabbit.

"Hi there, I hear you're the 'mon' to see about getting some weapons."

Smiling, and scratching his chin with his gun hand, Gargomon nodded.

"Yup, I'm the legal arms dealer here in town. What can I interest you three in?"

Looking at their partner Digimon, the Tamers took a little time to actually come up with what would be a suitable weapon for each Digimon. Colin spoke up first.

"You got any gauntlets or bracers? You know, boxing gloves or something similar."

Taking a moment to scroll through a list that he had pop up on a holographic menu, Gargomon searched his inventory.

"Uh-huh, I have plenty of bracers, gloves, gauntlets, the works. Might I suggest for you two-"

He checked out Maul, noticing how he had blue leather straps wrapped around his paws.

"-the 'Wild Gloves'? I think they'll fit your style."

He brought up a hologram of spiked, fingerless brown gloves, with little vines decorating its edges. Maul smiled upon seeing them.

"Oh we so need to get me those."

"That would be 150 bits, if you'd please."

Hitting **Okay to Purchase** on his D-Arc, the image of the pair of gloves flashed on his screen, before popping out a battle card for him to catch.

"Ah, so weapons are cards as well. Makes sense, I guess."

Asami came forward next.

"I think we'll go with a sword. What kind of blades do you have?"

"Ah, you're in lucky, miss. I've got plenty of swords."

Yet another hologram appeared in midair, with multiple pictures of swords and their names floating under them.

"Which one will you have? I've got her a Lost Katana, a Brave Blade, a Ronin Blade, a Reppamon Tail…"

"The Ronin Blade will do nicely, thank you." It was Kotemon who had spoken.

"Excellent choice. I should warn you though; it only seems to really work for Digimon when they're angry."

"That shouldn't be a problem for me then."

Paying for the weapon, Asami grabbed the card that came out and just stood silently as Dmitri finally placed his order.

"Considering what Candlemon mainly does in battle is burn things, what would you suggest I buy?"

Scratching the back of his head for answers, Gargomon replied back.

"Well anything from a weapon with the Crest of Courage emblazed on it to a simple Lighter would do, I think."

"You have a Lighter as a weapon?"

"This is the Digital World. You really still surprised by anything at this point?"

Shaking his head in amusement, Dmitri bought the 'Lighter', which the card suggested was bigger than normal size cigarette lighters, and then turned to his friends.

"You guys still want to look around town a bit, or shall we go find Elecmon and try out this mission?"

"Thought we were calling him 'Shin' now," said Colin.

"Colin, it's a NPC Digimon. I really don't care what it wants to call itself; it's an Elecmon, like all the rest. Regardless of how much of an 'Anomaly' it might be."

Dmitri looked down to find Kotemon giving him a fixed glare, his yellow eyes being rather unnervingly good at it too.

"Is there a problem, Kotemon?"

"None, Dmitri sir."

Not sure what to make of the little lizards sudden hostility, Dmitri continued on.

"Well let's get going then, unless you all do have something you want to see."

The group answered with a united 'No', and headed for the entrance of Popsicle Town. Asami held Kotemon behind the group with her, giving her partner a stern look.

"What was that just now? With you glaring at Dmitri?"

"Nothing, mistress. Must have been malfunctioning."

He walked off ahead of her, gripping his shinai tightly as he went.

* * *

><p>Path to Mirror Lake, 1st hour and 50 minutes spent.

"What took you guys so long?"

The Elecmon was giving his best impression of an annoyed Sonic the Hedgehog sprite that a player has left alone to long.

"We were out shopping. Forgive us for wanting to prepare ourselves," shot back Dmitri.

"Considering how you all dashed out of Primary Village without a care in the world, I didn't think any of you cared too much about preparing yourselves."

"Okay, before either of you turn this into start barking at each other, how about we just get on with the mission?" said Colin, recognizing how the rogue NPC and Dmitri didn't seem to get along.

They both glared at each other, before replying 'fine' and looking away from one another. Sighing at the state her group had become, what with Kotemon brewing with anger silently and those two butting heads, Asami took the lead down the road that was marked 'Path to Mirror Lake'.

The road seemed rather normal at first, taking the group through yet another tundra-like environment, with a few wild, harmless Frigimon and Mojyamon roaming about. Farther down the path, though, they came across a wall of ice blocking their way, with the only opening being a little off to the right of the road they were on.

Dmitri looked back down the road, and then at either side of the wall before him. Seeing that going around it would either lead them off a cliff to the far right, or take forever if they went to the left of it, he turned to his travelling companions.

"It looks like we're going to have to go through that opening in ice wall over there, if we want to continue on. Though from the looks of it-"

He peered into the entrance, seeing that it didn't seem to open up into a clear road but split like a fork inside.

"-it looks like it might be a maze. Not looking forward to that."

"It's not that big a deal. The six of you have me as your guide. Come on, before some other players beat you there." Elecmon went off towards the entrance to the maze, the rest of the group reluctantly following him.

"How would you know how to navigate through here?" asked Dmitri

"What do you mean 'how would I know'? I taught you how to work your D-Arc, didn't I? I think I might know a little more than you about this 'game'."

"For things relating to Primary Village, starting the game, and the area surrounding the village? Sure, I can believe that. But knowing how to navigate a maze in the snowy region of File Island? Seems a bit strange to give that kind of knowledge to a NPC."

"Well I am an 'Anomaly', remember? There are plenty of things you and people like you might find 'odd' about a Digimon like me."

"You still haven't answered my quest-"

"Dmitri?" Asami had chosen to cut in.

"Yeah?"

"Can you not bother the Deus Ex Machina Digimon who is kindly escorting us to our mission?"

She looked back the way they had come so far, noticing how Colin seemed to have also lost track of the way back out.

"I'd rather not be left behind inside of here, unless you were paying attention to how to get back out," she continued.

Seeing that both of his friends would prefer it if he stopped talking to Shin completely, Dmitri kept quiet. He still gave the rogue Elecmon a suspicious look every now and then.

About 10 minutes later, Shin raised a paw, signaling for the others to stop. Kotemon came up to him.

"Why are we stopping?"

"Look over there. It's your competition."

Looking at what Shin was pointing at, Kotemon saw a raven-haired Tamer with a giant red and white chicken Digimon, who seemed to be arguing with another Tamer and his flower like Digimon.

"An Akatorimon and a Floramon. Can't say what cards those two might have, but they can't Digivolve their partners any higher than champion, if they're still playing here on File Island. By the way, have you guys fought any other Tamers yet?"

Shin looked back at the group, Asami shaking her head for all of them.

"Nope, just some wild Digimon here and there."

"Then there's something you should know. If your Digimon get beaten, they'll be reduced back to their egg state, and you guys will have to level them up again. So don't go around starting fights with other Tamers unless it's necessary."

"And what would happen if a wild Digimon beats them?" asked Colin.

"Oh well they just get deleted then, and you're kicked out of the 'game'."

Kotemon seemed to become unhappy again, upon hearing this.

"So then how about we just walk on by these guys, and leave them to sort out their little spat."

No sooner had Colin finished saying this, the Akatorimon began firing red lasers at the opposing Floramon, knocking it into an ice wall behind it.

"Looks like we won't have to worry about bothering them now. A barrier will have gone down around them, so they won't hear us go by."

Seeing a path in the maze that would take them around the battling Tamers, the group proceeded down that way. They were nearly completely away from the four combatants, when the wall behind them exploded into little shards of ice, Akatorimon and Floramon facing them with a mean glint in their eyes.

"Where are you guys headed?" cawed Akatorimon.

Surprised to see both Digimon still fine and standing, the group looked at their new company with suspicion. Asami spoke for all of them.

"Nowhere in particular. It seems you two resolved whatever was bugging you both."

The raven-haired Tamer came up behind Akatorimon, patting him on the back.

"We were just tired of going around in circles. Things got a little heated, and we started to point fingers at one another."

He smiled, though to Dmitri it looked a bit forced. Then he seemed to recognize the kid.

"You're the guy from Popsicle Town."

Apparently recognizing Dmitri too, and realizing that he might have unintentionally made an enemy, his smile turned apologetic.

"Right, you guys were looking for help. Sorry about earlier, was in kind of a bad mood then."

"You seem to always be in a bad mood when we bump into you. You forget to take your happy pills or something?"

The boy glared slightly at Colin, but brought back his smile and seemed to let the comment slide. The other Tamer came forward and spoke instead.

"By the way, you guys wouldn't happen to know the way out of here, would you? You sure seem to know where you are going."

"Like she said, we're going nowhere in particular."

"The pretty girl can speak for herself, I'm sure. Come on now, we just want to get out of here. No need to be unfriendly."

"Yeah, hang with us. We can be really, _really _friendly if you give us a chance," said the raven-haired Tamer, winking in Asami's direction.

Pointing at the clear path through behind them, Asami raised an eyebrow as she answered.

"It couldn't have been too hard to find the exit from where you are. Isn't it more likely that you two just like to wait out here and prey on 'pretty girls' and others who try to get through this maze?"

Not dropping his fake smile, the raven-haired boy spoke.

"So you're not going to let us hang with you guys, then?"

"That's the idea. Have a nice day."

Colin turned his back to them and started to go, only for a red laser beam to brush by his head. He turned back around to find the raven-haired boy pointing in his direction, and Akatorimon's eyes glowing.

"Are we really going to do this?"

The boy smiled, this one seeming more genuine, and a little sinister.

"We just want to spend some time with the girl. The rest of you can leave."

"Shove off, I'm not interested."

The raven-haired boy sighed, bowing his head as he motioned forward with his hand.

"If you're going to be that way, guess we got no choice. Akatorimon?"

"**Scar-Red Eye!**"

Two red lasers shot out of the giant chicken's eyes, heading for Asami. Kotemon appeared immediately in front of her, shinai held horizontally as he blocked the beams and knocked them to his left, cracking an ice wall there.

"Do NOT take action against my mistress. It will not end well for you."

All D-Arcs present chimed at the same time.

**Warning****: Further attacks will force both Tamer groups to engage each other. Do you wish to officially declare battle?**

The two groups looked at each other for a moment, and then they all quickly hit 'Yes' on their Digivices and pulling out their Digivolution cards (save for the raven-haired boy, who's Digimon was already a champion).

**Digivolution Activate**

Kumamon…digivolve to…**Grizzlymon! Hah!**

Kotemon…digivolve to…**DinoHyumon! Humph!**

Candlemon…digivolve to…**Meramon!**

Floramon…digivolve to…**Kiwimon! Kah!**

Akatorimon had leapt into the air while the others were digivolving, and was coming down now on top of DinoHyumon.

"**Akatori Kick!**"

Bringing down a flaming claw, he tired clawing at the giant lizard man. DinoHyumon responded by bringing up his butcher knives to block the attack, singeing his hands in the attempt.

"Grizzlymon, a little help here!"

"No problem. **Maul Attack!**"

Swatting at fluttering chicken, Akatorimon felt energized claws striking him and sending him spiraling back to his Tamer. The boy looked over at his dazed partner, a look of disappointed etched on his face. Drawing out a card, he held his mounted D-Arc horizontally and swiped it through.

**Digi-Modify: Plasma Talons Activate.**

Akatorimon smiled fiercely as his talons began to glow blue, scorching the ground they stood on. It got back on its feet and ran back towards the lizard man and blue bear.

Meramon was busy with his own problem, finding that the bird Digimon before him could fire miniature versions of himself from his beak. Multiple mini-Kiwiwmon, being rapidly fired.

"**Pummel Peck!**"

The Humanoid Torch had to raise his arms to block most of the damage from the little kamikaze birds. Meramon looked over at his partner, a pleading look in his eyes.

"Some assistance, Dmitri? Anything would be nice about now."

Pulling out a card with a silver star Digimon on the front, he slashed it through his D-Arc.

**Digi-Modify: Starmon Activate!**

Smiling, Meramon unfolded his arms and stretched them out into the sky, as multiple lights began to appear out of nowhere.

"**Meteor Shower!**"

Kiwimon saw a mass of flaming rocks hurtling down toward her, and looked a bit panicked at first. Then she smirked, and leapt in the air towards one of the meteors, her Tamer slashing his own card.

**Digi-Modify: Gesomon Activate!**

"**Coral Crusher!**"

Watery versions of Gesomon's squid arms appeared where Kiwimon's wings should normally be, and she used them to swat away the meteor she was sailing towards, knocking down towards Meramon. The fire man Digimon leapt out of the way, only to look up and see Kiwimon descending down on him. Kiwimon's Tamer took out another card, this one identical to the one Akatorimon's Tamer had previously used.

**Digi-Modify: Plasma Talons Activate!**

"**High Jumping Kick!**"

"**Akatori Kick!**"

DinoHyumon and Grizzlymon jumped away as the giant chicken landed between them, where they just were. Finding himself surround now, Akatorimon sweatdropped as he realized that maybe he was a bit too hasty with his attack. Asami pulled out the newly purchased weapon card, and slashed it through.

**Digi-Modify: Ronin Blade Activate!**

A bronze, eerie Katana replaced the giant blade on DinoHyumon's back. Placing his butcher knives in the dirt and pulling out his new blade, the lizard man's eyes flashed purple, before he charged Akatorimon, bellowing.

"**Lizard Dance!**"

Normally a move he performed with both of his butcher knives, DinoHyumon began to assault Akatorimon swiftly; the bronze blade glowing as it repeatedly collided with the chicken's glowing talons. Akatorimon started to look very worried, as with each clash with DinoHyumon his legs grew more tired, while DinoHyumon kept on raging.

Grizzlymon, not wanting to miss out on experience for the second time that day, made a move forward to enter the fray, only to receive a fierce glare from DinoHyumon.

"Back off, furball! This fool is mine!"

"Weren't you just asking for my help a moment ago?"

"Which you did, and now I no longer require it. Go both the Walking Campfire!"

Looking over to Colin, who shrugged and gestured toward Meramon and Kiwimon, Grizzlymon let off a low growl as he switched targets. Colin took out two cards and slashed them one after the other.

**Digi-Modify: Hyper Speed Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Unimon Wings Activate!**

Growing a pair of Unimon replica wings, Grizzlymon flew off at top speed towards the flightless bird Digimon, which was busy pummeling his ally with her still glowing talons. Looking up in surprise to see a flying blue bear hurtling towards her, Kiwimon was barely able to land and gain some footing before a big, red claw came down upon her skull.

"**Maul Attack!**"

The energized claws ripped through the poor Digimon, her Tamer shrieking in shock that his partner had been beaten. The Kiwimon then dissipated and reformatted into a little brown egg, one which the boy was quick to take up into his arms and carry away from the two victor Digimon. Though victor might be a poor description for Meramon, as the state he was left in from both the water claw attacks and the plasma talons left him looking rather ragged. For a living flame, that is.

Over on the opposite side of the battlefield, the raven-haired boy had barely noticed the loss of his partner's Digimon, concentrating on his own problems. Taking out a card, he proceeded to run it through his D-Arc.

**Digi-Modify: Goblimon Activate!**

The group perked up at the sound of that name, and watched as Akatorimon suddenly had a club clasped in its beak, and seemed to have regained some energy back. Planting both its feet in the ground, he began counterattacking DinoHyumon with the club lodged in his beak, muttering as he went.

"Can't let youse guyz goe just yetz! Hyogamon needth more time, and I'm the 'mon' to givth it to him."

DinoHyumon gritted his teeth as he blocked each blow.

"Don't know, or care who that is. You're still getting grilled. Which reminds me…"

Smiling wickedly for a second, he brought the Ronin Blade swinging upwards, knocking club out of Akatorimon's beak and damaging the bird's beak while doing so. He then quickly retrieved his two butcher knives from their imbedded spots in the ground, putting the Ronin Blade inside his own mouth. Bringing his butcher knives up on opposite sides of his body, resembling a certain anime pirate, DinoHyumon charged dwon the chicken Digimon, roaring. Not letting the lizard man scare him, Akatorimon puffed out his chest, bearing down on DinoHyumon as his Tamer slashed another card to aid him.

**Digi-Modify: Power Activate!**

Asami, having the same card herself and not about to risk losing DinoHyumon in the apparent final strike of the fight, brought out her own.

**Digi-Modify: Power Activate!**

"**Akatori Kick!**"

"**Santoryu: Lizard Dance!**"

Akatorimon only realized three painful slashes later, before he began to return to an egg state, that he should have just blasted the lizard instead of challenging him physically. Before he returned to the unconsciousness one finds in an egg of data, he heard the now Rookie Kotemon continue his question from earlier.

"Perhaps you can tell me, what did come first: The chicken or the egg? Then again, for you'll just end of reincarnating your weak self back to egg form again and again, so you might not be the best to ask, now would you?"

The others were clearly taken aback by Kotemon's attitude, Asami particularly alarmed. Maul walked over to him and poked the side of his head with a paw.

"You feeling okay, buddy?"

"I'm fine."

"Okay, if you say so. It's just that you been acting weird lately, so…"

"Acting how? I'm just an automated, pile of data, just like you. I'm just the way I was programmed. Nothing not to be expected out of a Digimon."

Turning his attention to the two depressed Tamers, each cradling their partner's egg, Kotemon huffed and walked back to where the gang was going before the fight broke out. The winning team watched as went right by them, Dmitri tending to a rather sleepy looking Candlemon as he peered down at his D-Arc screen.

**Battle concluded. The Challenged Team is victorious. No EXP granted due to it being an unsanctioned Tamer's match. Barrier disengaged.**

Asami was already trailing after her moody partner, with Colin and an ever confused Maul trotting after. Dmitri looked over and saw the two defeated Tamers walk the other way out of the maze, not looking back at them as they left. He then noticed Shin staring at him, and stared back, not shifting his gaze.

"What's your deal?"

"Nothing. Just checking to see if you're actually thinking about why Kotemon might be acting out like that."

"By staring at me like a creepy uncle? He's probably just glitching. Not that big a deal that you'd be able to see some sort of revealing sign on my face, _Shin._"

Shaking his head, as if humored, Shin turned and made to follow after the other four, calling back to Dmitri.

"Whatever. Just try and be useful in the next fight, huh? Can't have Colin and Maul save your butt all the time now, can we?"

Dmitri was going to respond on how he's been doing just fine till today, but settled on grinding his teeth, helping Candlemon to his feet…candlestick holder and hop on after the others.

/Path to Mirror Lake, 2nd hour and 25 minutes spent.


	6. Chapter 6: Frozen North

03/26/2012

Disclaimer: Own not, do I, any Digimon, Kamen Rider (lyrics), Papa Roach songs or lyrics, or other pop culture/meme related content found in this fanfic.

Chapter 6: Frozen North

_This is Colin Ursa, with yet another recording for the MAGAMI Cooperation. Nothing much to report, all gameplay seems normal and there are no clear glitches...I would like to ask what kind of survey was held as to what kind of people get to play this kind of game. I ask because almost every other person I've come across in this game has had some major attitude problems. Perhaps I'm not one to talk, but still. Rather dickish (unprofessional, I know. Don't care) people one can find on here. I'll try to be less informal in my next recording. Signing Out_

/Path to Mirror Lake, 2nd hour and 25 minutes spent.

* * *

><p><em>...yeah, that recording is getting scrapped. Don't know why I keep doing them so frequently, it's not like I'm writing a story or anything.<em>

Making it out on the other side of the maze, the seven travelers were greeted to the sight of an icy cliff coast side. They could see a school of Ikkakumon playing with Gomamon out in the ocean. On the other side of the cliff they noticed that the path led down a hill, though none of them could see what lay at the bottom from where they stood. The path down the hill was covered by shrubbery on either side, while the left side leading back to the maze had the forest behind the vegetation.

Shin's ears perked up at the sound of intense buzzing. He saw that the others hadn't noticed the sound. _A perk of having huge ears, I guess. I should probably tell them about the rather large bug that's likely headed this way._ He thought about it for a moment, then shook his head and smiled mischievously. _Nah, it's better for them to find out on their own instead. Don't want any more elders accusing me of 'meddling', now would we?_

Asami inspected her group with a side glance. Colin and Kumamon, or rather 'Maul' as he is now christened, were seemingly no worse for wear. Maul was chucking rocks in the Ikkakumon's direction; Colin caught his paw after he caught on to what Maul was doing and scolded the little bear. Dmitri was eyeing Shin suspiciously, while Candlemon was as absentmindedly cheerful as ever. Kotemon was still acting unpleasant as before, not talking to anyone and moving on down the path without waiting for the rest. Sighing, Asami followed her brooding partner.

They could now make out a frozen lake about a mile down a hill, when Maul and Kotemon picked up the sound of insect wings beating heavily in the distance. Candlemon, lacking ears as effective as those two (lacking ears in general, and yet somehow able to hear at all), instead spotted some movement coming from the forest and the bushes to their left. Candlemon tugged on Dmitri's pants, pointing in that direction as Kotemon and Maul spotted a giant red bug drop towards them, pincers spread wide open.

"Colin, we've got trouble!"

"Mistress, I suggest you get ready."

All of the Tamers looked in the direction their respective partners were pointing, Asami personally not liking the tone Kotemon was taking with her. Both Colin and Asami identified the bug as Kuwagamon, while Dmitri recognized the group of Digimon that were emerging from the bushes.

"Looks like the Goblimon have been tailing us. They must really not like you, Colin."

Smiling, Colin cast a glance at the green, angry goblin Digimon that were advancing on them. The lead Goblimon was particularly familiar, since he seemed to be missing some teeth. He pointed his club in Maul and Colin's direction.

"Those two are mine. The rest you guys can delete and load for all I care."

Roaring with excitement, the five Goblimon started towards Dmitri, Candlemon and Asami, as Kuwagamon finally landed and glared at the Tamers.

"What does Hyogamon want with shrimps like these? They're barley worth swatting, just look at them."

The lead Goblimon fixed Kuwagamon with what was meant to be a menacing glare, but it just earned him some chuckles from the Tamers gang and some of his own crew.

"They attacked me, one of the Orgemon Brother's crew. That in itself warrants a beating. And instead of taking it like a good little Mon and flesh bag, those two-"

He shook his club again at Maul and Colin.

"-deleted a Shamanmon. That is something we don't take lightly!"

Maul looked up at Colin, ignoring the slobbering giant beetle in front of him and having a mock bored look on his face.

"Oh yeah, we did delete someone by that name, didn't we?"

Shrugging and pretending not to know, Colin went along.

"We must have, because this guy's throwing a hissy fit over something."

This enraged Goblimon.

"You think deleting one of my brothers is a fucking joke!"

"Whoa, language there, buddy. Sides, if I recall, you punks are in the habit of harassing in-training Digimon. You and your friend kind of get what you deserve for attacking people for little reason."

Colin's eyes darkened and he reached for his card pack as he finished speaking.

"Kind of like what you're doing right now. Back off if you don't want to join him."

He held out Shamanmon's card, causing the Goblimon crew to bellow in rage. One of them started to charge the group. Heading for Asami, he jumped at the last second, bringing his club up for an overhead smash.

"**Gobli Strike!**"

"**Thunder Kote!**"

Dashing in front of his 'mistress' and bring his now electrically charged _shinai_ horizontally forwards to intercept Goblimon's club, Kotemon knocked the assaulter away as well as giving him a nice little jolt.

"Do not attempt that again, if you'd like to keep functioning."

Kuwagamon, taking that to be a sign to start attacking, charged Maul and Colin while two other Goblimon started to attack Candlemon and Kotemon. The Goblimon Kotemon had shocked was busy trying to get feeling back in his everything, while the lead Goblimon barked at Kuwagamon.

"Hey, I said those two were mine!"

"**Scissor Claw!**"

Ignoring him, Kuwagamon brought down his pincers in the area Colin and Maul where just a moment ago. The two had jumped aside just in time to avoid the glowing blades, Colin pulling out a favorite card as he got back to his feet.

"Hey, if you guys want to play rough…"

Dmitri watched as Candlemon shook off his Goblimon attacker, glad that he didn't even half to pull out a card to help get him started. _Still, it's better to be safe than sorry. And if 'Shin' is telling the truth, I can't afford to lose Candlemon in a fight with mere Goblimon._ Pulling out the same card and Colin, he prepared to slash his through once Candlemon was a distance away from Goblimon.

"…then I guess we will have to play rough. Right, 'boss'?"

"Stand still you damn lizard. **Gobli Strike!**"

Side stepping out of the way, Kotemon didn't even bother bringing out his _shinai_, choosing instead to dance around his opponents. 'Opponents' being the choice word because the zapped Goblimon had rejoined the fight.

"I'll get him. **Gobli Bomb!**"

Again, he side-stepped out of the way of the attack.

"Is this your idea of 'getting me'?"

"Smug little... **Gobli Bomb! Gobli Bomb!**"

Kotemon was engaging both his original opponent and the later Goblimon, the fifth one (not the leader, so technically the fourth Goblimon) busy trying to get Shin to fight him. Asami wondered if the little lizard even _wanted_ her help right then. Choosing to not care how he felt about it until after the fight is won, she brought out the same card as the two boys, and seeing that the others seemed to be waiting for her, she rolled out the way of one of the Goblimon errant '**Gobli Bombs**' and slashed her card through her D-Arc at the same time the boys did.

"Oh shut up and 'slash' already," responding to the other two.

**Digivolution Activate**

"**Scissor Claw!**"

Kuwagamon attempted to close his pincers on where Maul was a moment ago, only to find an energy egg protecting him and repelling his pincers. The three other Goblimon found similar dilemmas when they tired the same with Kotemon and Candlemon.

Kumamon…digivolve to…**Grizzlymon! Hah!**

Kotemon…digivolve to…**DinoHyumon! Humph!**

Candlemon…digivolve to…**Meramon!**

Music started to play again from Asami's D-Arc, causing the wild Digimon to stare at her in confusion. DinoHyumon just smiled as he started the battle by striking a distracted Goblimon.

"**Lizard Dance!**"

_Gata Gata Gata Gata! Gata Gata Gata Gata!_

Leaping over the Goblimon he just left wounded by his double overhead slash, he turned his attention to the healthier won, as the barrier closed around the group, separating them from the outside game world.

"**Liard Dance!**"

"**Gobli Strike!**"

Brining up his club to block the blades, Goblimon sunk to his knees from the weight of the blow. Noticing movement behind him, DinoHyumon brought his left blade up to block a blow from the wounded Goblimon. Smiling to himself, he issued a challenge to the two.

"Come on, I'll take both of you punks on!"

The two Goblimon then ran to each other and proceeded to double team DinoHyumon with blows from their clubs, DinoHyumon expertly parrying each attack.

"**Gobli Strike!**"

"**Gobli Strike!**"

_Gata Gatakiriba! Gata Gatakiriba! Gata Gatkiriba! Gata Gata Gatakiriba! _

"**Lizard Dance!**"

DinoHyumon exchanged knife blows with the two Goblimon, not noticing how they were progressively working him towards the edge of the barrier.

Backing up into Asami, Colin looked away from Grizzlymon fighting Kuwagamon to take a peek at her D-Arc.

"Okay Asami, I got to know. How did you get your digivice to play a song every time DinoHyumon fights someone?"

Distracted by the rather random question in the middle of a fight, Asami didn't swipe her 'Hyper Chip' card.

"What, that? It's simple. Can't you figure it out own your own, I'm kind of busy."

Colin checked over Asami's shoulder, and saw DinoHyumon barely struggling with the two Rookie goblins.

"Ah come on, it'll only take a few seconds, a minute at best. I mean look at him, he's doing fine."

Sighing and smiling a little, she took his arm where his D-Arc as attached. Finding the music list on his digivice, she brought up the menu and let go of his arm.

"There, play away."

A second later, 'To be Loved' by Papa Roach started playing obnoxiously loud, disturbing all combatants. Dmitri and Asami shot dirty looks Colin's way, who sheepishly smiled and shrugged.

"What, not appropriate battle music?"

"NO!" replied everyone else.

Asami walked back to Colin and forcefully took his arm.

"Hey, watch it. Jeez, sorry you don't agree with my choice of music."

"If you're going to be playing ANYTHING while we're fighting, then let's at least make it appropriate. Here we go."

Selecting '**Shooting Star**' by **Everset** for her reluctant friend, Grizzlymon seemed to glow a little, and a happy smile crept onto his face as he charged down Kuwagamon.

_Hey You, Got to Clear the Mission. Comin' Comin' Comin 1 on 1 session. _

"Hey, Bugmon! Let's see how you like fighting someone your own level!"

Colin, not minding the song so much once it started play, pulled out his "Hyper Speed' card and swiped it through his D-Arc as Grizzlymon made it to Kuwagamon, who was waiting with his maw wide open.

**Digi-Modify: Hyper Speed Activate**

_Let me show you something; It's my Perfection._

"**Maul Attack!**"

"**Scissors Claw!**"

The two Champion level Digimon clashed; Grizzlymon's boosted speed allowing him to move Kuwagamon's massive body back a few steps. Grizzlymon's red claw sparked as it tried to get past Kuwagamon's mandibles and aim a blow for his head. Kuwagamon managed to stop Grizzlymon's advance by planting himself firmly into the ground after only a few seconds, and proceeded to toss his head upwards, sending the blue bear soaring into the air.

"Well that doesn't normally happen," commented Colin, a bit amused that his partner's usual charge-and-attack plan wasn't panning out today. Grizzlymon was understandably, less amused by this.

"Less smiling, more freakin' SLASHING from your end, thank you!"

"Quit your roaring, I got ya card right here."

**Digi-Modify: Cyclonemon Activate**

"Well that's more like it."

Looking down on Kuwagamon, who had started to fly after his airborne prey, Grizzlymon smiled as his mouth began to glow green with plasma.

_3 – 2 – 1, Make you Burn!_

"**Hyper Heat!**"

Kuwagamon was blasted face first by a hot green orb, scorching his head and setting his wings ablaze with the embers.

"AHHHH!"

The lead Goblimon sweat dropped, not liking how things were going so far.

"Well there goes our advantage."

"You thought you had an advantage to begin with?"

Goblimon froze up as he realized that voice had come from behind him. Turning around quickly and jumping back just in time to dodge a flaming fist, he locked eyes with a very pleased looking Meramon. Immediately the Goblimon started to worry about his comrade.

"What happened to the Mon that was fighting you? I didn't even see you to fight."

"Well yeah, that's because A.) You were too busy paying attention to Grizzlymon wrestling with the bug than watching out for your own teammates, and B.) It wasn't really a fight per say. More me smacking about a Jpeg with legs."

Goblimon growled, forgetting that his opponent was a Champion for a moment as he brought his fist back.

"That's my brother you're insulting, you flaming bastard. **Gobli Bomb!**"

The spiked ball collided and exploded on Meramon's body, the Champion barely exhaling as it broke up upon impact with him. Goblimon's eyes failed to hide the fear he was suffering. Meramon simply shook his head.

"You really should have taken up a different profession. Clearly highway robbery isn't your forte."

Crossing his arms, he lit up intensely as the Goblimon tried to run off towards his friends, trying to escape his up and coming demise.

"**Magma Blast!**"

Huge fireballs smacked into and torched Goblimon as he ran, causing his data to disappear and reform as blue energy being absorbed into Meramon.

**Goblimon Defeated. 14 EXP rewarded.**

Dmitri could help but point out the obvious, as he caught the Goblimon card that flew towards him.

"Look who took out his opponent first. You guys want to pull your wait anytime soon."

As Colin flipped him the bird humorously and Asami huffed in annoyance, Shin just seemed to find what he said to be extremely hilarious, and chuckled ceaselessly to himself.

"What's so damn funny?"

"YOU took out your opponent first? Really? So where did mine go, because last I checked there were five Goblimon, and now there's two."

Looking around, the group noticed that the Goblimon that was originally fighting their resident Elecmon was nowhere to be found. The two remain Goblimon, having grown incredibly tired from their duel with DinoHyumon, started to sniffle a bit at the way their ambush had gone so horribly wrong.

"Okay, fine, you took out your opponent first. Happy?"

"Extremely, thank you."

Kuwagamon, his head no longer alight but still visibly scorched, roared as he knocked past Grizzlymon and forced Colin to roll out of the way as he headed for Meramon, roaring.

"Can't you damn goblins kill anyone right?"

"A Nature Digimon wants to fight a Fire Digimon like me? Are you alright in the head, friend?"

"Shut your mouth, smartass! **Scissors Claw!**"

Kuwagamon's damaged mandibles tried to close around Meramon, only to once again catch alight as they came in contact with his 'skin'. Meramon just smiled as he brought his right hand back, ready to finish him off.

"**Fire Bl-**"

"**Crescent Dawn!**"

A white, crescent moon shaped beam sliced through Kuwagamon. Meramon had to duck as the beam went through and slipped by some trees into the forest. Getting back to his feet, he saw Grizzlymon smiling as he absorbed his fallen enemy's data.

**Kuwagamon Defeated. 35 EXP rewarded.**

"Since when do you have your own projectile attack?"

"Since always, I just haven't had to keep kill-stealing fools away from my prize with anything other than my paws."

"Spoil sport."

Glad that he can stop worrying about what cards to feed Grizzlymon, Colin turned his attention to the last battle, where DinoHyumon still clearly had enough steam to go another 30 minutes, while the Goblimon were panting and weeping like crazy.

"Looks like we're just waiting on you, DinoHyumon."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were in a rush, _sir!_"

"What's with the attitude? I'm just saying to hurry it up."

Asami turned to Colin, an odd look of disapproval and apology on her face.

"Colin, stick to ordering your own partner around, 'kay?"

"Alright, sheesh. Can't play my music, can't speak my mind, freakin' police state."

DinoHyumon turned his attention back to his weary victims. Tightening his grip on his butcher knives, he disengaged locking blades with the two goblin's clubs and swung his knives under them, knocking them up out of the Goblimon's grasp and into the air. As their eyes were on their flying weapons, DinoHyumon appeared behind them, butcher knives sheathed and Akinakes drawn in their place. Kicking the two of them right into the barrier, he slashed at their exposed backs horizontally while calling out his blades name.

"**Akinakes!**"

The two Goblimon screeched in pain, as they began to disappear into data that was being swallowed up by DinoHyumon. One of the two lasted longer than the other two, issuing a warning to the Tamers.

"It doesn't matter if you beat us, Hyogamon still gets the lake. Hope you guys like ice, because it'll make up most of your tombs."

With that, he faded from existence, as blue colored data was absorbed into the victor.

**Goblimon (2x) defeated. 28 EXP rewarded. Battle Concluded, barrier disengaged.**

As their freedom was once again granted to them with the barrier's removal, Kotemon turned slightly towards Colin, an annoyed tone to his voice as he spoke.

"Was that fast enough for you, sir?"

"Forgive me for wanting to get on with our 'quest'."

Shooting both of them an angry look (which caused Colin to shut up immediately and Kotemon to dismissively avert his eyes), Asami started down the path downhill towards the lake, only a mile away. Not wanting to annoy her further, Colin followed quickly after, Maul, Dmitri, Candlemon and Shin coming in behind him.

/Mirror Lake, 2nd hour and 55 minutes spent.

* * *

><p>Fog covered the banks of the lake, making it hard see the shapes moving in the middle of the lake. Once the gang had walked through onto the lake, they found it particularly hard to find their footing on the slippery surface. Candlemon nearly melted through a couple of times, if not for Kotemon and Kumamon grabbing him when he started to sink too far between hops.<p>

Clearing through the fog finally, they made their way further onto the lake, when Dmitri spotted some movement ahead.

"I think I see something going on ahead."

Asami and Shin strained their eyes, and were able to make out the forms of Icemon, Gizamon, and what appeared to be some Gomamon. The Icemon and Gizamon were having a massive brawl, while the poor Gomamon were being frozen and attacked by both sides indiscriminately. Shin growled in disgust at the scene.

"Those idiots! I knew they had problems staying quiet, but acting like wild animals? No wonder the elders put a hit out of them so soon."

Dmitri eyed the enigmatic Elecmon.

"Do you know those guys?"

"…yeah. They're anomalies, like me. And if you didn't notice, elders don't tend to like us much. So if they can they'll assign players like you to 'take care of us'."

"Well if you 'anomalies' go around attacking each like those guys," he pointed towards an Icemon stomping down on an injured Gizamon, a spikey ice ball forming in one hand, "then I can't say I blame them."

"I'd expect as much from you."

Before either one of the two could go further, Kotemon had suddenly dashed ahead to engage the targets.

"Enough talk. We have a quest to finish, as I recall someone complaining about earlier."

Resisting the urge to chuck something at the Digimon, Colin ignored him and signaled for Maul to follow suit with a nod, the little cub running after Kotemon. Not wanting to be left behind, Candlemon chased after both of them, with the Tamers and Shin taking up the rear.

/Mirror Lake, 3rd hour spent.

* * *

><p>Amidst the battle, two particular Icemon and Gizamon faced each on the field as their brothers clashed, the Icemon having more ice packed on his shoulder than the average Icemon and the Gizamon sporting some scars on his back near his fins.<p>

"I knew you damn Icemon were going to ruin everything. Why couldn't you all just shut your mouths while you were in town, and NOT draw attention to the fact that there are a high amount of us anomalies in the North?"

"Because unlike you lily livered Gizamon, we refuse to put up with restrictions made by human puppets, like those damn Elders! Now step aside, we have business to attend to in Popsicle Town. It's time we drive out those damn Sorcermon!"

"NO! There aren't nearly enough of you to properly drive them out, and you'll only bring down the wrath of the human administrators down on all of us. Stop this, now!"

"If you fools would join up with us, we could easily take back our village for REAL Digimon. Continue to get in our way, and you'll be deleted with them."

"Damn you, fool! **Spiral Saw!**"

"You brought this on yourselves. **Iceball Bomb!**"

Three energy slash waves flew towards a spikey ice ball, but both attacks were intercepted by a downward burning shinai blow and a bear cubs paw.

"**Hot Head!**"

"**Bear-cub Punch!**"

Landing between the two combatants, Maul adjusted his hat as he touched the ground, and the two challenging the Icemon and Gizamon with daring smiles (or in Kotemon's case, his unnerving glare).

"And just who are you two?" asked a now furious Icemon.

"Just some concerned Digimon. We heard about a disturbance out here, involving both of your clans. Didn't expect to find you to be involving innocent Digimon as well."

Maul pointed at one of the frozen Gomamon, who Kotemon was in the process of freeing.

"**Hot Head!**"

Smashing the ice casing with a burning shinai, Kotemon helped the barely conscious Gomamon find his footing; Kotemon cast a glare at the lead Icemon, who just huffed and snapped his fingers, summoned two of his colleagues to his side.

"Don't give me that look. The child was playing in a battlefield. Besides, we're doing this for Real Digimon like him, so that no other clans get wiped out in the middle of the night by Tamer pets like you."

"What, by freezing him to death yourself? And what exactly do you mean, 'Real Digimon'? And that comment about clans getting wiped out?"

His eyes saddening as he recalled the memory, Icemon motioned for his men to stay put as he enlightened Kotemon and Maul of their misfortunes.

"As this fool of a Gizamon knows, as well as any Real, Free Digimon, we have for the past few months been slaughtered in our sleep or even in the open by Tamers, Administrators, and their Artificial or Traitor Digimon pets. Last week we saw a tribe of Frigimon and Chuchidarumon reduced to nothing but playing cards! And those supposed Digimon Elders, those Sorcermon, what did they do about it? They SANCTIONED the executions, and are nothing more that digital extensions of their human puppet masters. Now step aside, unless you want to share the humans' fate."

Kotemon shook his head, reaching for his sheathed shinai as he answered.

"I don't take orders from Wild Digimon, especially thugs like you."

Maul gritted his teeth, pointing his clenched paw in Icemon's direction.

"And what the hell were you going on about? We haven't betrayed anyone, and I'm certainly not anybody's pet!"

"Any Digimon who associates themselves with humans is a traitor. If you Rookies now what's good for you, you'll get out of our way!"

Icemon and his colleagues tensed up, ready to take on the two rookies, when three fireballs landed on the ice before them, scaring them off.

"I don't think I like that tone you're taking, frosty."

Coming up next to his teammates, Candlemon brought down his burning arms, smiling at the other two.

"What I'd miss? You guys looked like you were getting rather heated a moment ago."

Not sure whether or not the candle was making a pun, Kotemon answered plainly.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. We're here to delete them, so let's just get to that."

"But just the Icemon, right? The Gizamon haven't done anything besides try and stop the Icemon."

Kotemon and Maul stared at each other, Maul not dropping his eyes as he met Kotemon's fierce gaze. Sighing, Kotemon relented.

"Fine, just the Icemon then."

"What's all this about just the Icemon?"

The three Tamers and Shin had finally made it to the middle of the frozen lake, catching glimpses of angry Digimon fighting here and there.

Asami repeated her question.

"Hey, I said what were you guys talking about? Why are we only dealing with the Icemon?"

Noticing a few Icemon chuckling upon their Tamers' arrival, Kotemon answered in a cold, annoyed voice.

"Apparently, the Gizamon are just reacting to the aggressive, blockhead Icemon's actions. There is no need to take out them as well."

Dmitri raised an eyebrow after hearing this, but kept quiet what he felt like saying. Colin saw the out of breath Gomamon struggle over to them, coming to rest his head on the boy's ankle. Glaring at the Icemon, he immediately drew out his Digivolution card, and proceeded to run it through his D-Arc. An unwelcome but familiar message rang out.

**Time Remaining Until Card Recharged: 3 minutes.**

Worry spreading across his face, Colin looked at the others, who were already testing their own cards out. The same message rung out from both of their D-Arcs. The Icemon laughed as they advanced on the group.

"Looks like your humans won't be much help to you today. 3 minutes is more than enough time to deep freeze you traitors for the next century."

Maul growled and charged the lead Icemon.

"I don't need to Digivolve to take you down! **Bear-Cub Punch!**"

Kumamon's clenched paw collided with Icemon's face, but the Mon didn't as much as flinch. He then proceeded to swat Maul away with a spiky, enlarged ice hand.

"**Ice Strike!**"

Maul flew into Candlemon, knocking the poor Mon over as another message erupted out of all three of the Tamers D-Arcs.

**Warning: Multiple Wild Digimon in Battle Zone. No Barrier capable of engulfing must proceed with free-for-all setting.**

Taking that to mean no annoying enclosed arena to get in their way, Dmitri and the others welcomed this first bit of good news they had gotten so far. Knowing he had at least 8 other cards left to use, he took out two and signaled of Candlemon to get back up.

"Okay Candlemon, we'll just take them out the old fashioned way."

**Digi-Modify: Gasoline Activate.**

**Digi-Modify: Lighter Activate.**

Candlemon, once back on his pedestal, started dripping with excess oil, and had an oversized golden lighter appear in his right hand. Aiming it at the lead Icemon, he quickly attacked instead with his left arm.

"**Melted Wax!**"

Wax and gasoline rocketed towards the Icemon chief. Two of his followers leapt in front of the attack, getting badly scalded and trapped to the quickly melting surface in the process. Candlemon proceeded to raise his arm holding the lighter and fire off another attack.

"**Flame Bomber!**"

A huge stream of fire erupted from the lighter, releasing instead of the usual fireball a flamethrower like blast of blue fire. The Icemon chief braced himself as the attack struck him, briefly losing his footing as the attack lifted him into the air. Seeing this as an opportunity for him to get in an attack of his own, Kotemon chased after the soaring Icemon, while calling back to his Tamer.

"If you'd like to render assistance, _mistress_, it would be nice to render it relatively soon."

Colin couldn't help but ask.

"Okay, what if up with the little guy's attitude? He seemed nice enough yesterday, now he's all hostile."

"…"

Ignoring the both of them, Asami brought out three cards of her own.

**Digi-Modify: Ronin Blade Activate.**

**Digi-Modify: Power Activate.**

**Digi-Modify: Stamina Activate.**

Seeing that his shinai had been replaced by his new weapon, Kotemon drew out his Ronin Blade, intent on meeting Icemon as he descended. He was 10 feet away from the falling ice golem, when something wearing a purple striped fur coat struck him.

"**Horn Attack!**"

Quickly shrugging off the attacking and landing on his feet, Kotemon looked up to see a color palette swap of a Gabumon standing before him, a smug smile etched on his face.

"Well, look who went and grew up. Kapurimon, or rather Kotemon, now isn't it?"

"Psychemon. What exactly are you doing here? No wait, don't tell me, just remembered I don't care."

Still smiling, Psychemon spotted the Tamers and replied, while doing his best to sound wounded.

"Kotemon, how is that anyway to treat an old friend? Here I am, going out of my way to visit you, what with your little human friends and new pet comrades, and you go and act like you're not happy to see me."

Maul had finally gotten back on his feet, and was helping some Gizamon fight off some of the other Icemon on the lake. Despite wearing the Wild Gloves and using the 'Power Strike' card, he was not doing too well against the Champion-level Digimon. Noticing that the chief Icemon was again on his feet, albeit rather charred and pissed off, he saw Kotemon being confronted by the oddly colored Gabumon expy.

"I'm not. You were never my friend, Psychemon, or any of the other Baby Digimon. Friends don't abandon one another to Goblimon gangs and then pretend that they did nothing wrong."

Not intimidated by how calmly and coldly Kotemon expressed his hatred for him, Psychemon continued to chat away amicably.

"I didn't so much abandon you guys as I did refuse to be in the same area as some Goblimon punks. Could you really blame me, I was only a little Tsunemon then."

"…you have three seconds to leave before this blade is lodged up somewhere unpleasant."

"Well if you're going to be that way…**Colorful Spark!**"

A rainbow beam erupted off the tip of Psychemon's horn, but Kotemon anticipated the traitorous attack and side stepped it, letting the blast carry on. Maul spotted the beam in time to dodge it himself, but his Gizamon allies and some Icemon were not as lucky. The Gizamon disintegrated while the Icemon remained, and the data from the fallen Digimon flew into Psychemon, a sadistic smile coming onto his face.

"-then I guess I just have to carry on with my job."

Dashing towards his new opponent, Kotemon brought his blade forward, not at all worried about the amount of power Psychemon may have just gained.

"So you've reduced yourself to acting like a sell sword? You're little more than a whore now."

"Says the human pet. Speaking of, be a dear and tell me which one of those three is your Tamer, I wouldn't want to keep you two apart to long after a delete you."

"You're also delusional if you think you can beat me."

Leaping over Psychemon, he brought down his blazing sword swiftly.

"**Hot Head!**"

"**Horn Attack!**"

Psychemon's energized horn knocked away Kotemon's Ronin Blade, and impaled the lizard Digimon as it continued higher. Kotemon landed with a thud on the hard ice, his data destabilizing a bit from the damage.

"Oh Kotemon; always the lightweight. Me on the other hand, I'm always in it for the long haul."

Walking over to the still down form of Kotemon, who was reaching for his blade a few inches away, Psychemon kicked the blade away. He then grabbed Kotemon by head and pulled him up to eye-level, reveling in how defeated his 'friend' looked right then.

"One hit and you're down. Oh well, I guess the bear will just have to put up more of a fi-"

"**Bear Claw!**"

Appearing out of nowhere, Maul slashed Psychemon across his face, knocking him away from Kotemon and causing him to reach up a hand to where there were now claw marks etched into his skin.

"You little Spyware fucker, you cut me."

"You just speared my friend. Excuse me for reacting in kind."

Snarling a bit, then re-composing himself and bringing back his slasher smile, Psychemon began to glow red as the Icemon around him began to laugh once more.

"You two are in for it now. Hyogamon has sent his chief enforcer to simply send you off, but now that you've got him all good and mad, he's going to thrash you good. Best part is, you can't even Digivolve now to even the playing field. Not that you would stand a chance, considering all us Icemon are also Champions."

This was bit much for Maul to take in all at once, and he started to ask 50 questions once again.

"Wait, who's Hyogamon? And who's this enforcer of his? What's this got to do with that weirdo Gabumon you're all looking at? And you guys were freaking Champions?" _That explains why I'm having such a hard time._

Sighing at the limited grasp his teammate had on the situation, Kotemon tried to explain.

"The 'Gabumon' over there is Psychemon, who apparently is working for Hyogamon. You know, one of the Orgemon brothers that's been sending Digimon right and left to fight us? And yes, the Icemon are Champions. Do you know nothing about our world?"

"What's there to know? I can Digivolve, there are enemies to fight, food to eat, and Colin and I can hang out here all the time."

Trying his best not to react disgusted by the Kumamon's pet like devotion to Colin, Kotemon turned his attention to the still glowing Psychemon, as Candlemon once again appeared next to the two, still as cheerful as ever.

"Hey guys, I just took out three Icemon back there."

"Of course you did," replied the two of them in union, both annoyed and jealous at the same time. _Stupid type advantage_.

"So what's going on here?"

"That Psychemon over there is going to Digivolve, and then were royally screwed."

"Is that what he's doing?"

Ignoring Maul as best as he could, Kotemon stood himself back up, as the Tamers reached them yet again, Shin looking rather ragged and battle weary.

"Kotemon, are you okay?" asked Asami, but all she got in reply was cold silence. Colin stared over at the glowing Psychemon, as Dmitri recognized what he was doing without help.

"Great, another Wild Digimon Digivolving."

"They can do that?"

"It's what that Flymon did. Oh right, you weren't there when they ambushed me and Candlemon."

"…certainly taking his time."

"Yeah, it is, isn't it…hey wait a second!"

Checking her Digivolution card again, Asami was pleased to see that it was no longer black, not even a hint of grey on it.

"Let's try this again."

**Digi-Modify: Digivolution Activate!**

"Thank Azulongmon, something useful."

Kotemon…digivolve to…**DinoHyumon! Humph!**

"Heh, is that all? Here, let me show you mine!"

Psychemon…digivolve to…**Gururumon! Ahahahaha!**

"…Gururumon?"

"Cousin to Garurumon, I'm sure that's the one you've heard of," answered Asami

Glad to know he wasn't crazy for somewhat recognizing the name, Colin proceeded to pull out his own card now, as did Dmitri.

**Digi-Modify: Digivolution Activate**

Kumamon…digivolve to…**Grizzlymon! Hah!**

Candlemon…digivolve to…**Meramon!**

With all three of their champions finally on the field, the Tamers seemed to release a collective sigh of relief, while Shin watched quietly to the side.

"Oh look, Kotemon. Your friends can play too."

"I thought you figured that out when I made you 'pretty'"

Growling, Gururumon charged Grizzlymon.

"You're first then, you stupid bear. **Chaos Blaster!**"

Purple flames flew towards Grizzlymon, as Colin made sure to assist with a card.

**Digi-Modify: Hyper Speed Activate!**

Dashing out of the way of the attack, Grizzlymon ran to collide with Gururumon, only to see him disappear before him a second before they were to clash. He then felt a sharp pain run through his back.

"**Animal Bite!**"

"Arggh! **Maul Attack!**"

Bringing his energized claws down on Gururumon, the giant wolf only shuddered a bit as Grizzlymon's previously sure-kill attack failed to do just that.

"Get! OFF! **Maul Attack! Maul Attack!**"

Smiling still, even with the constant blows raining down on his head, Gururumon briefly lessened his grip, as his mouth glowed purple again.

"Well if you insist. **Chaos Bla-**"

"**Lizard Dance!**"

"**Fireball!**"

Grizzlymon's two allies hadn't just left him there, and after seeing that his favorite attack wasn't saving his hide, acted accordingly. Gururumon simply leapt out of the way of Meramon's fire, and aimed his shot at DinoHyumon instead.

"-**ster!**"

Grizzlymon had to groggily roll out of the way of Meramon's fire, as DinoHyumon was knocked back into some cheering Icemon, who proceed to engage him as they all got back up. Grizzlymon backed up into Meramon as they realized that they were being surrounded by angry Icemon, with many of the formerly opposing Gizamon either gone or frozen.

Gururumon smirked as he saw the look on the Tamers and partners faces, licking his paw rather cat-like as he taunted.

"What, you think we're all as easy to trounce like some backwash Goblimon?"

* * *

><p>Mirror Lake, 3 hours and 51 minutes spent.


	7. Chapter 7: Square One

05/08/2012

Disclaimer: I currently am not in the possession of the rights to Digimon, Kamen Rider (lyrics), Papa Roach songs or lyrics, or other pop culture/meme related content found in this fanfic.

FanAuthor's note: Sorry for taking so long with this one, I've just not found myself to be quite a writing mood. Also, thank you all for reviewing my chapters so far. Hope to release the next one soon.

Chapter 7: Square One

* * *

><p>Mirror Lake, 3 hours and 55 minutes spent.

"Colin?"

"Yeah, Asami?"

"I don't think we're winning this one."

The battle was definitely not going in the Tamers' favor. With only Meramon putting up a decent fight against the now unchecked hordes of Icemon, multiple ice shards and spiked balls were being hurled in their direction, as both Colin and Asami's partner were in no position to defend them. Grizzlymon was still wounded from Gururumon's bite, and DinoHyumon was currently facing send wolf.

Seeing his partner struggling just to move out of the Icemon's barrage, Colin checked his cards to see which ones weren't blacked out. To his dismay, all he seemed to have left were his Frigimon, Unimon, and Shamanmon cards. Deciding that Maul really needed to get out of the Icemon's range, he chose the Unimon card, and hoped that the Hyper Speed card was still effecting Maul.

**Digi-Modify: Unimon Activate!**

Black wings erupted from the back of Grizzlymon, and not wasting any time he took off for the sky. Unfortunately, the blue grizzly was no longer as fast as he would have liked to be, and the Icemon were able to still track him as he ascended.

"Take him down boys! **Iceball Bomb!**"

Dozens of spiky ice balls flew towards Grizzlymon. He grimaced as five impacted with his body, and Colin could only clench his fists in dismay as he saw the sixth bomb explode against his partner, which reverted the Digimon back to his Rookie form.

"Maul!"

Colin charged over to Maul's descending body, ignoring the Icemon now turning their attention to him, and leapt up to catch his wounded partner. Kumamon seemed to be unconscious, and his body kept de-stabilizing and reforming violently. An Icemon took this opportunity to charge the two. Asami, noticing her friend in trouble, alerted DinoHyumon.

"DinoHyumon, Colin and Maul are in trouble! Help them!"

Looking annoyed but obeying regardless, DinoHyumon dashed in between the Icemon and his targets, raising his Ronin Blade and growling at the ice golem.

"Going somewhere?"

"Yeah, through you! **Ice Strike!**"

"**Akinakes!**"

Calling out the attack for his replaced huge sword, DinoHyumon cleaved through the Icemon's big spiky fist and continued on through his body, reducing the Digimon to data. Looking slightly refreshed after absorbing the fallen Digimon's essence, DinoHyumon turned back to his comrades.

"Can you try to carry your own weight? It's hard enough fighting off all these guys without having to rush over and save both your hides!"

"DinoHyumon!" shouted Asami, getting rather tired of her partner's new attitude.

Colin was still behind DinoHyumon, and he answered back, anger barely hidden in his voice as he draped the still unconscious Maul over his shoulder.

"Hey, we're trying just as hard as you are!"

DinoHyumon snorted arrogantly as he turned to address the slighted Tamer.

"And yet he's the first to be knocked back to Rookie-level."

"Soon to be followed by-"

"**Chaos Blaster!**"

Turning quickly towards the voice, DinoHyumon only managed to bring up his blade to block the burst of purple flames that soon engulfed him. Colin had to roll out of the way to avoid being hit by the flying Digimon, tucking Maul into his chest to avoid rolling onto him.

"-my _dear_ friend Kotemon."

Sure enough, DinoHyumon had been knocked back to his rookie level as well, though still conscious and weakly grasping his sword for support.

"Kotemon!"

Asami dashed to her wounded partner, who was too weak to brush her off when she grabbed and brought him close to.

Gururumon chuckled sadistically as he closed in on the four.

"This is almost too easy."

* * *

><p>4 hours and 3 minutes spent.

Meramon, meanwhile, was having very little trouble handling the Icemon. In fact, he was the only partner Digimon who had been able to easily hold his own, and actually cause the Icemon to back off out of fear. He didn't seem to notice the trouble his allies were in, concentrating more on the amount of damage he was inflicting on the ice-type Digimon.

His tamer was able to see that his teammates were dropping like flies, and Dmitri also noticed they weren't using their Power Charges yet.

"You two still have Power Charges and Weak Codes, da? Use them, or do you expect Meramon and me to do everything?"

"So now you're getting snippy as well?"

Colin and Asami still brought out their D-Arcs, a little ashamed that they had forgotten all about the supplies they specifically bought for these situations, and selected both a Power Charge and Weak Code from their stock. Maul and Kotemon immediately perked up, and all of Colin and Asami's cards were no longer blacked out.

"Round two starts now, wolf pelt."

Maul just gave Colin a side glance, and charged towards both Gururumon and the Icemon not currently engaging Meramon. Not wanting Maul to interfere in his battle with Gururumon, Kotemon quickly followed, still possessing his Ronin Blade despite the resetting of cards. Knowing exactly what their partners needed to even the playing field, Colin and Asami once again slashed their Digivolution cards, while Asami supplied Kotemon with her ShimaUnimon card and Power card, and Colin slashed Cyclonemon and Hyper Speed once more.

**Digi-Modify: Digivolution Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: ShimaUnimon Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Power Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Cyclonemon Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Hyper Speed Activate!**

Kumamon…digivolve to… **Grizzlymon! Hah!**

Kotemon…digivolve to… **DinoHyumon! Humph!**

Returning to their Champion forms, the two Digimon sprinted over to their adversaries, Grizzlymon outpacing DinoHyumon thanks to his card's power. Not wasting anytime, he immediately opened his maw and unleashed the fury of Cyclonemon's power upon the Icemon in his way.

"**Hyper Heat!**"

Triple green blasts of plasma struck a group of Icemon, instantly deleting them and supplying Grizzlymon with more power. Seeing that there were still some Icemon between him and Gururumon, he prepared to fire another volley when he noticed something big and green leap overhead and engage him first. DinoHyumon had managed to make it to their target first, and began striking at the grinning wolf.

"Gonna wear you like a coat, and use your fangs as a new sword. **Lizard Dance!**"

"You're welcome to try."

Asami decided that another card would likely be needed if she wanted to make sure Kotemon won this time, and was checking through her deck when she noticed that Shin was not next to her any more.

"Colin, did you see where Shin's gone off to?"

Looking away from Grizzlymon unleashing a fury of Maul Attacks, Colin tried to spot their Elecmon ally, finally spotting him over by the frozen Gizamon and Gomamon.

"He's over there, by the frozen Digimon. I think he's probably trying to free them."

He saw that the Icemon had heard him as well, and were turning their attention towards the would-be rescuer.

"Maul, they're going to-"

"I know, I'm on it."

Still retaining the speed from his card, Grizzlymon dashed in front of the Icemon who were breaking off to engage Elecmon, who had started blasting the ice with his attacks.

* * *

><p>4 hours and 15 minutes spent.

"**Super Thunder Strike!**"

Several electric bolts arced off of Shin's tails and struck the frozen forms of Gomamon and Gizamon alike, freeing many of the inhabitants.

The Icemon were not eager to have the battlefield leveled out, and tired their best to get by Grizzlymon. Many were met with a green plasma blast or glowing claw for their troubles. 3 got by him, however, and charged Shin in a fury.

"Looks like the humans have another pet sneaking around. Why didn't they digivolve you too, _pet_?"

Shin spun round and body checked the nearest Icemon, sending him hurtling back.

"**Body Attack!**"

The other 2 Icemon stood there with their jaws dropped, at the sight of their brother being handled with ease by a rookie.

"I am no one's pet. Though that's still preferable than being the scumbag that attacks defenseless Rookies."

Recovering from their shock, and Shin's victim getting back to his feet, he retorted scornfully.

"The Gizamon were barely defenseless, just pathetic and lily-livered."

"I was referring to the Gomamon, punk."

"Oh everyone's always going on about the Gomamon. '_Think of the Gomamon'_ this and _'Don't use that language in front of the impressionable Gomamon'_ that. Bah, do I look like a babysitter? Their parents should know better than to leave them alone out here."

Glaring daggers at the Icemon, Shin helped the Gizamon shoo away the Gomamon as he started to get engulfed by a familiar looking data egg.

**-WARNING: ANOMALY DIGIVOLVING! TAKE CARE!-**

* * *

><p>"If you two don't seriously shape up, I'm going to be playing this game solo in no time soon."<p>

Asami really wished Dmitri hadn't said that, as it caused DinoHyumon to become distracted from the minor advantage he gained against Gururumon and allowed the wolf scoundrel to get in an attack.

"**Animal Bite!**"

Ripping up a part of DinoHyumon's hip, Gururumon laughed evilly as he leapt backwards; avoiding the barrage of ranged attacks DinoHyumon was sending his way.

"Gah! **Mirage Blaster!**"

Seeing the huge lizard missing his mark repeatedly, Dmitri spoke again.

"Asami, if you don't want to be logged off, get your Digimon in line!"

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP, YOU CALLOUS BASTARD?"

All of the Tamers and their partners stopped what they were doing and turned to the face the outraged DinoHyumon, who was pointing his blade in Dmitri's direction. Dmitri's face was one of shock, while Gururumon couldn't stop laughing like a naughty child.

"Hah, for a second there I thought he was talking about me."

"I'll get back to you in a moment, mutt! You, enough with this 'player' crap. These are living creatures you're dealing with, not playthings! We are not all some game you can drop or pick up whenever you want!"

Dmitri's stopped paying attention mid-rant, not believing or caring about one word that was coming out of the 'character's' mouth. Instead he turned to Asami, with a bemused look on his face.

"I try to help you out when your partner nearly gets deleted, and you program him to cuss me out? Funny, but was that really necessary?"

"Dmitri, I didn't make him say that."

Now the young adult's face soured, clearly not finding this fun anymore.

"What, he just spoke for himself? Come on, I know you and Colin have been inputting phrases and personalities quirks into your Digimon since you logged on yesterday. It's what everyone does. These things aren't real, so they obviously don't-"

Suddenly grabbing the boy by his neck, DinoHyumon used his free hand to backhand slap Dmitri. Meramon stopped attacking Icemon upon sensing someone attacking his Tamer, and was shocked to see his ally be the attacker. The Icemon ceased advancing to watch the spectacle in amusement.

"DOES THAT FEEL REAL, JACKASS? That brat doesn't direct my actions any more than the wind does! I chose to become her partner, just like countless other fools, because we were raised to think that joining with humans was the highest purpose village-born Digimon like me could achieve! And instead, I find that you're all arrogant, jaded children who come to our world and use us for your own gladiatorial amusement!"

Dmitri could only look stunned at the sudden violent outburst from the supposed non-sentient program. At the very least he was convinced that this wasn't Asami's doing, though he was still confused as to how and why the creature before was able to act the way it did, and why it was turning its fury on him.

"DinoHyumon stop!"

The giant lizard man looked out of the corner of his eye at his Tamer while she continued speaking.

"You can't kill him, and we aren't doing this just for sport."

DinoHyumon loosened his grip around the boy's neck, but still held him close as he responded.

"I don't plan on killing him, if I can even do that without him disappearing back to your world, and you say that you aren't here for sport. So then what are you three are here for? Are you out to 'Save the world'? Find a nice piece of island beach property and set up a house?"

"…no, but-"

"So then I was right. You're just here to have a bunch of digital creatures tear each other apart, and supply weapons to us when our own abilities grow to stale for you tastes."

"You know that's not true. If we were just bloodthirsty bullies, why would we have saved BlackGatomon and Mikemon yesterday?"

"Kumamon, Candlemon and I helped those two out. You three sat on the sidelines, like always."

"But we didn't have to go out of our way to save them, and I could have ordered you to attack them as well. I am not-we are not awful people. Yes, this is a game world and we're here to play, but we aren't like the other players you've come across."

**-WARNING: ANOMALY DIGIVOLVING! TAKE CARE!-**

"Uh guys? Hate to interrupt, but-"

"Not now, Colin!" said DinoHyumon and Asami in unison, not looking away from one another.

**-WARNING: ANOMALY DIGIVOLVING! TAKE CARE!-**

"No seriously, something is going on with Shin-"

"He's an Elecmon; call him by his real Digimon name."

"Okay DinoHyumon, Elecmon is digivolving and I think he might need our help."

"Then go bother with him, we're busy."

**-WARNING: ANOMALY DIGIVOLVING! TAKE CARE!-**

"Alright, so you're both being bitch now. Fine, be that way."

Colin headed off to try and assist Elecmon, while DinoHyumon and Asami continued to lock eyes, only later registering what Colin had told them.

"Wait, what?"

* * *

><p>4 hours and 20 minutes spent.

"Uh brother, I just remembered something about Elecmon, and I don't think you should have provoked him into digivolving."

The addressed Icemon smiled smugly.

"Oh what's he going to do? Warp-Digivolve into a Jijimon and lecture us like spoiled children?"

"No, worse."

Elecmon…digivolve to…**Leomon! RAWR!**

If Icemon had normal fleshly faces, all of theirs would have drained of color. Each of them new of Leomon's fabled fire powers, as well as strength and skill. But mostly they were pissed-out-of-their-pants-scared of the fire powers.

The previously smug Icemon pleaded with the lion warrior.

"He-hey, buddy, we were playing around before. No need to get aggressive or anyth-"

"**Fist of the Beast King!**"

The target erupted into flames after being struck by a fiery lion face. The other two Icemon ran off like frightened rabbits. Right into a waiting Grizzlymon.

"Hi. **Maul Attack!**"

Energizing both of his claws, his swipes injured both of the fleeing Icemon. They were still able to stand, and were about to counterattack when a blade appeared in front of one Icemon's neck.

"We're not through yet. **Beast Sword!**"

The ice golem disappeared as its head detached from its body, leaving the last Icemon at the mercy of both Grizzlymon and Leomon. Luckily for him, he didn't have to wait long to join his friend.

"**Crescent Dawn!**"

"**Fist of the Beast King!**"

Finally reaching both his partner and the newly digivolved Leomon, Colin stopped, bent over and tried to catch his breath.

"Wow. You guys…handled that great. Looks like I'm not needed after all."

Grizzlymon laughed and 'patted' his Tamer on the back, accidently toppling him onto his face.

"The thoughts appreciated, though. Oops, sorry partner."

Leomon looked amused at the two, then looked over to where Asami and DinoHyumon were still arguing, the Icemon and Gururumon looking to have grown impatient and moving in on them. Dmitri was still in the hold of the angry lizard man, who was oblivious to the advancing forces, and Meramon looked like he might attack his friend at any second. Leomon returned his focus to Colin and Grizzlymon.

"We need to help those fools out before they get deleted and booted. You two up for it?"

Both Colin and Grizzlymon nodded.

"Good."

Leomon dashed off towards the other Tamers, with Grizzlymon right behind him and a winded Colin bringing up the rear. Grizzlymon paused after seeing how hard it was for his Tamer to keep up, and nudged him with his shoulder.

"Climb on; it'll be faster for the both of us."

"Nah, I'm good. I can keep-"

"Get On."

Not wanting to argue further with a bear, Colin proceed to climb on top of his partner's back, and held on to his fur as he rode off. Leomon, seeing this from the corner of his eye as they ran, smiled as he spoke.

"To tell the truth, it's nice to see you two get along so well. You're the most reliable out of your little group as it is."

Colin and Grizzlymon exchanged a confused look, and asked the same question.

"How'd you figure that?"

"You're not as prideful like Dmitri and Candlemon or as easily unsettled as Kotemon and Asami."

Grizzlymon shook his head.

"Are you kidding? Candlemon hasn't lost a fight yet, let alone lose ground in one, and Kotemon is one of the most focused people I've seen. Candlemon has every right to confident, and what could possibly unsettle Kotemon?"

Colin added in his own points.

"And how exactly is Dmitri prideful? Sure, he's a bit much to deal with at times-"

He thought back to the argument he had with the young adult just yesterday, were Dmitri was less concerned with proving his innocence as he was trading harsh words.

"But he knows a lot more about what goes on in this world than I do, as does Asami."

"Right there, you referred to this place as a world, not a game. And you actually talk with and get along with your partner. It's what I'm talking about when I mean you're more reliable"

Not at all sure where the A.I. was going with this, and seeing that they were nearing the scene, Colin tried to wrap up the odd conversation.

"It was a slip of the tongue. And Dmitri and Asami both talk to there-"

Leomon gave Colin an amused look that relayed 'Dmitri? Really? Since when?', and Colin edited himself.

"I mean Asami talks to Kotemon plenty. I mean, our Digimon are our partners, we're supposed to talk to them: it's part of the game."

Grizzlymon scowled as that word was brought up again.

"Why do you always go on about this 'game'? What game, all we've been doing is fighting mean Digimon and hang out for about five hours. How is that a game?"

Leomon gave Maul a look that Maul couldn't tell what was meant by it, as Colin impatiently asked.

"What exactly are you going on about, Leomon?"

"You'll see in a few minutes. Oh, and Maul. It'll only hurt for a little while."

Grizzlymon looked a little worried by that last bit.

"What do you mean it'll-?"

"Oh look, we're here. Best get to it then."

Taking off ahead of the two, Leomon used his blade to block a claw swipe from Gururumon, who was aiming to take off Asami's head.

"Aaaah! Jeez, thanks Leomon."

Shocked out of his passive state, Dmitri shoved out of DinoHyumon's grip and looked towards Meramon, nodding. The fire giant resumed attacking Icemon, all the while keeping an eye on DinoHyumon.

"Where'd you come from?" asked DinoHyumon, suspiciously.

"Less talking, more fighting. Wasn't your job to take care of these Icemon, and this bitch's cur I'm dealing with?"

"HEY, my mother was a classy Digimon. You take that back."

Leomon shared a look with DinoHyumon, whose smile had returned.

"He doesn't like people talking about his mom?"

"Considering that he doesn't actually have a mother, no he does not. He likes to think she's some Digimon princess who'll come and whisk him away."

Gururumon glared pure hate at the lizard.

"Your bitch will die slowly for that, Kote."

"…I don't care how spoiled she is, you don't threaten her. **Lizard Dance!**"

Sidestepping the attacking lizard, Gururumon tried to take another bite out of him, but found his mouth biting down on a hard, Chrome Digizoid blade. In his path was Leomon, who had managed to quickly get in front of him, and was pulling his arm back.

"**Fist of the Beast King!"**

"**Chaos Blaster!**"

Of the two, Leomon was clearly the more experienced. The flaming lion head soared through Gururumon's purple flames and struck him inside of his mouth. The wolf flew back, trying to put out the fire in his mouth with his paws and becoming the laughing stock amongst his allies. As he got up, two familiar blades sliced through his back, causing him to howl out in pain. Gururumon found himself surrounded by both DinoHyumon and Leomon, with little way out of the situation. DinoHyumon looked out and saw that many of the Icemon were falling to Meramon's onslaught, and Grizzlymon seemed to not be doing badly himself. He couldn't help but echo Gururumon's words back to him.

"What, you thought we're all as easy to trounce like some backwash Goblimon?

Finding yet another reason left to smile, Gururumon replied.

"No. That's why I brought Betamon."

Below the frozen lake, something began glowing. Recognizing what was going on, and seeing that it was going after Meramon and Grizzlymon, DinoHyumon shouted out to warn them.

"Guys, get out of there. It's Seadra-"

* * *

><p>Betamon…digivolve to…<strong>Seadramon!<strong>

"**Ice Winder!**"

From out of the water rose a giant, green sea serpent with a golden head. Spotting the biggest threat on the field, he wrapped his tail around Meramon, surprising the Champion and his tamer with his sudden appearance and attack. Brining his face level with Meramon's, he opened his maw, a white glow emanating from within.

"**Ice Blast!**"

Releasing a chilling winter's gale at his immobile target, Seadramon blasted Meramon point blank, forcing many of the flames covering his body to die down. Grizzlymon ran over to his ally and leapt at the sea serpents tail, bringing his claw down on it.

"**Maul Attack!**"

Howling in pain, Seadramon released his grip on the fire Digimon, now knocked back to Candlemon and feigning consciousness. Grizzlymon made sure his friend landed on his back's soft fur, while Dmitri stood aside from it all. Simply taking out a card from his pack, he slid it through his D-Arc without giving Candlemon so much as a second glance.

**Digi-Modify: Energy Activate!**

Candlemon's eyes forcefully shot open, and he jumped off of Grizzlymon's back and locked eyes with Seadramon. Grizzlymon turned to stare at Dmitri.

"He can barely stand, why are you pumping full of energy boosts and having him fight? He'll just crash in a few minutes and be even worse off than now!"

Not really in the mood to engage another of his companions A.I.'s again, Dmitri ignored the bear as he slid another two cards through his D-Arc.

**Digi-Modify: Flymon Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Woodmon Activate!**

Insect wings emerged from the candle Digimon's back, and two Woodmon appeared in front of him, positioning themselves like rooks defending a king. Colin looked away from DinoHyumon and Leomon's fight with Gururumon and caught Dmitri pull this off, and was stunned. Even Asami when she turned and noticed was astounded by this, being more knowledgeable on Digimon than Colin.

"Dmitri, how did you summon two Woodmon? I thought the cards only lent your Digimon their power?"

"There's a lot you don't know about, Asami. Just watch and learn."

Not saying another word, Dmitri looked down at his D-Arc and input a bunch of commands, which clearly caused the two guard Woodmon to leap at the Seadramon. Both aimed for his head, bringing their arms down on top of it.

"Woody Smash."

Seadramon easily knocked the two Digimon aside, and both Grizzlymon and DinoHyumon seemed to be horrified by something other than the fact they were both instantly deleted upon being attacked, and that Seadramon seemed to absorb nothing from them.

"Why did they seem so emotionless? I've never seen a Digimon call out an attack so plainly."

"How was he able to summon two Digimon?"

"They aren't Digimon, at least not real ones."

Leomon was addressing the two confused Champions, while expertly fending off Gururumon.

"They're artificial Digimon, similar to the Elders at the villages and the occasional store clerk in the towns. Not too many Humans are keen on having sentient Digimon, let alone more than one."

He stared at Dmitri while saying this, who had directed Candlemon to once again engage Seadramon while he was fending off the Woodmon. Seizing the opportunity, he slashed another card through his D-Arc, changing Candlemon's hands to unassuming ripped white sleeves.

**Digi-Modify: Bakemon Activate!**

Looking drowsy but still obeying Dmitri's silent commands, Candlemon launched out two blue demon claws at Seadramon.

"**Zombie Claw!**"

One claw slashed Seadramon's right eye, the other cutting his belly. Nothing permanent or too damaging, though, as Seadramon immediately lashed out with another oral attack.

"**Water Breath!**"

Not wanting his ally to be extinguished, DinoHyumon air dashed and snatched Candlemon out of Seadramon's line of fire. Upon regaining consciousness after his attack, he saw that his rescuer was the one who attacked his Tamer earlier. Hissing and clawing at his former friend, he forced DinoHyumon to release him. Leomon watched the scene with a sigh, almost forgetting that he was engaging Gururumon.

* * *

><p>4 hours and 50 minutes spent.

Not liking how the remaining Icemon were staring at him, Colin started backing up until he bumped into someone. Turning around defensively, he found himself facing Asami. Lowering his fist and turning around again to face the looming Icemon, speaking to her.

"Still having fun? Because I could definitely use a break after all of this."

"No kidding."

"Speaking of breaks, you want to hang out later...I mean after we're done here?"

"…I would like to, really, but"

Normally being shot down would have been his primary concern, but Colin saw over Asami's shoulder that Seadramon was arcing his tail back, and if he were to swing it forward…

"Asami, get DOWN!"

Knocking the surprised girl to one side, Colin found himself receiving the full force of Seadramon's tail. Asami watched in shock as the boy was sent flying at high speeds.

"Colin!"

Grizzlymon suddenly felt a sharp jolt go through his body, and immediately dropped out of the fight he was engaged in with three of the remaining 15 Icemon to find Colin. Seeing that his partner had been attacked by the very Digimon he had just opted to leave to someone else, a bit of guilt ran through the Champion as he dashed towards his descending partner. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't the only one to notice the wounded Tamer.

* * *

><p>4 hours and 53 minutes spent.

"Quit! Blocking! All! My! ATTACKS! **ANIMAL BITE!**"

"**Beast Sword!**"

Blocking Gururumon's bite with his blade once more, Leomon swung his blade arm, shaking Gururumon loose as if he was nothing.

"How is it that I can't find a single opening? We're both just Champions, but I still can't hit you!"

"Am I supposed to answer that? I'm simply more experience than you, that should be obvious."

Furious, and not wanting to be made a fool for much longer, Gururumon prepared to assail him with more of his purple fire, when he heard 'Kotemon's bitch' cry out.

"Colin!"

_Ah, it seems one of the Tamers is in trouble._ Turning towards the sound of the disturbed teenager, he saw the Black boy was sailing through the air, Seadramon's tail still recoiling from hitting him. Licking his chops, Gururumon disengaged from his futile fight with Leomon in pursuit of easier, falling prey.

"Later Simba, I just found someone more fun to play with!"

Seeing where Gururumon was running to, Leomon roared and attempted to catch him.

"NO, leave that child be!"

"**Chaos Blaster!**"

Turning mid-run to face Leomon again, he once again tried to strike him with his purple flames. They were as unsuccessful as before, but the time Leomon spent to stop and block the attack was all Gururumon need to get a good lead on him. Returning to his chasing after the still flying boy's body, he spotted the Tamer's partner also racing for him, and he clearly hadn't noticed Gururumon. His mistake.

* * *

><p>4 hours and 55 minutes spent.

Despite this supposedly being just a game, Colin couldn't quite feel the arm Seadramon had struck, nor recall much of the attack or where he was. Straining his head a bit, he noticed that he seemed to be moving rather quickly, and by walking, or even using the ground. He also noticed to blurry objects headed his way. The 'objects' seemed rather furry, one mostly blue with some red spots in front, and one white with multiple blue strips patterned over his body. _Body, that what those shapes are. Bodies. And one of them has to be friendly. Probably not the whitish blue one, he just struck Grizzlymon…wait, that's what his name is._

"Grizzlymon!"

Landing unceremoniously on his back, his left arm still not responding to his mental commands, Colin tried to sit up and see what was going on. He saw his partner pinned down by Gururumon, who was raising a paw up to strike.

"Nighty night, Balou!"

"I do not have time to deal with you. **Crescent Dawn!**"

The mark on his head lit up, and Grizzlymon swung his head in a semi-circle in Gururumon's direction. The crescent energy blast sliced through Gururumon's hide, and nicked a good bit of his throat. The wolf Digimon fell off of Grizzlymon, clutching at his throat as he dedigivolved back into Psychemon.

"Gawk. Argh. Hurk!"

Struggling back to his feet, Grizzlymon continued on his way over to Colin's body, slower than before. Reaching his partner, he stood over him weakly and smiled sheepishly.

"This is getting to be a chore, huh?"

"You're telling me."

"Grizzlymon, Colin behind you! Don't drop your guard just-"

"**Ice Blast!**"

Leomon's warning was too late. Grizzlymon and Colin turned to find themselves facing the onslaught of a wintery gale smacking into them. Both of them went tumbling and turning on the hard ice lake until they reached the complete other edge of the lake, that sat next to the bank of a dark looking forest.

Colin struggled again to get upright, and then noticed that his partner Maul was once again Kumamon, and again de-stabilizing and reforming. Knowing what to do now when he was in such a state, Colin reached for over to his left arm and started to input the commands to supply Maul with a Power Charge, when something blue struck him.

"**SnowGobu Mace!**"

Colin cried out as a wooden mace collided with his already damaged arm, and the name of the attack called out gave him clue as to who was assaulting him. His D-Arc rang out a warning after he spun back onto the ice lake.

**-WARNING: Player Data being corrupted. Suggest avoiding any actions that may further contaminate…**

Colin stopped paying attention to the digivice, as he stared at his attacker. It was literally a blue pallet swap of the Goblimon he had faced before, only this one wore a coat that suited his environment, as well as sporting a wide wooden mace in place of a bone. Like the Goblimon, this creature didn't travel alone, as an entire horde of them sprang from out of the forest. Eyeing the downed Kumamon, the Goblimon look-a-like ignored his previous target and moved on to Maul. Staring coldly at the immobile Rookie, the Digimon raised his club horizontally, and if Colin had learned anything from his past counterparts, the creature was about to finish off Maul with a ranged attack. Point Blank.

"No!"

Somehow managing to find strength to get to his feet again, the boy reached the Digimon and made a decent attempt to tackle him away. Instead, he just bounced of the Digimon, someone who if Goblimon and Shamanmon were any indication, was only a Rookie. Then again, he was only…

"Human."

The blue Goblimon turned his attention once more to Colin, eyes cold as an icy vision of hell.

"We are going to raze that mockery of a village. We are going to evict your kind from this world. To start this, you shall be the first-"

He raised his club skyward. Colin got to his feet again, determined to keep the 'not Goblimon' from finishing off Kumamon. Leomon was almost upon them, and if they could just hold out for another ten, maybe five seconds he could help them. DinoHyumon was caught in Seadramon's mouth, and Candlemon was being manhandled by the chief Icemon. If he could just…

"-to WATCH YOUR TRAITOR PARTNER DIE! **SNOWGOBU MACE!**"

Kumamon disappeared into a cloud of data as the mace struck, and instead of colliding with the Snowy Goblimon, Colin found that the world had gone white, and then a very loud message rang out.

**Player has failed. Prepare for ejection!**

* * *

><p>Cyber Sheep Main Arcade, 12:19 p.m.

Colin was flung out of his VR machine rather violently, and upon getting back on his feet he realized that his left arm was still rather numb. It was also bleeding, and this caused players who were conscious and up at the time to look in alarm and concern.

Colin himself was rather in a daze over what just happened, and as he collected his pass and V Pet from the machine, he only saw static where Kumamon once was. After staring at the blank screen for a few sad minutes, he pocketed it and his pass, before clutching his bleeding shoulder with his good arm. Not sure how to feel, he didn't wait the last 2 minutes it would take for Dmitri to eject and join him, and just headed straight for their room.

Entering the main lobby, he passed by the receptionist he had flirted with before. She initially gave him a playful wink, but upon seeing his arm grew concerned and caught him by his good shoulder.

"Hey, what happened? Did you get jumped at the Arcade?"

Grateful for her concern, and only just now wondering how his arm had gotten injured here in reality, he struggled to figure out a logical answer to give her.

"Someone must have gotten me while I was under. No idea why, though."

"Well let's get you to the looked at; we can't let you walk around bleeding out like this."

"Thanks, but I really just want to go to my room right now. Could you help me get there, please?"

Not sure if that was an 'invitation', or if he was really sincerely asking for help, the receptionist escorted him to the elevator and brought him up to the 7th floor, unaware of what was going on in the teenager's muddled headed.

* * *

><p>Cyber Sheep Floor 7, 12:16

"Wow, I did not know you had medical training."

"Part of the job requirement. Odd for a hotel, I know, but they wanted to be sure that we took proper care of our customers."

Fixing the bandage on Colin's left shoulder, Sara, the receptionist, inspected it closely, while also feeling Colin's pulse.

"Squeeze your hand for me."

Compiling, he did so, and satisfying her that the bandage wasn't cutting off too much circulation to his arm, ceased checking his pulse. Looking up into his eyes, the two stopped for a moment, just staring at each other.

"You know, you don't quite seem a lot like the other people here for the event."

Smiling weakly, Colin nodded as he asked.

"What exactly did you expect?"

"Oh, just another otaku or tech geek, someone who's either interested in how this Virtual Reality stuff ticks or just interested because the game's modeled after their favorite anime. If you don't mind me asking, why are you here?"

"You want me to leave?"

"Heh, no. I'm just curious. Sorry for prying."

"It's no problem. I'm actually used to that question by now. I'm here because my brother…"

He stopped, and the realization of what he had lost hit him. He let the present his brother had given him die before his eyes. He let Jack's ambassador to the Digital World die, and here he was flirting away with some chick he won't see once he's done review this game. Heck, he likely won't be able to do that anymore, because players who lose their partners to wild Digimon get kicked from the game. He was such an…

"…idiot."

Cocking her head to one side, Sara looked confused by this sudden declaration.

"Huh?"

"I'm such an idiot. My brother bought me that Digimon for a birthday present, and I just lost it today. It's only my second day, and I lost Jack's present to me."

"Oh, you got kicked from the game. That would explain that weird message that guy gave me."

It was now Colin's turn to give Sara a confused look, but before he could ask, the other occupant of room 418 returned, looking rather steamed. Though clearly not about the extra person they had in their room.

"Ran out of freakin' time before I could get in a shot at that damn Hyogamon. Ah well, he'll likely still be there, or at least close by when we log back in around 9."

He hadn't really paid much attention to who was in the room until now, or the state his roommate seemed to be in.

"Uh, hey Colin, what happened to your arm? And why did you log out early?"

"…I lost Maul."

Taking a second to register what Colin told him, the realization that he'd be playing alone now saddened the young adult.

"Oh, sorry comrade. Your brother got you that guy too, didn't he?"

Nodding silently, Colin stared at the wall, not really pay much attention to either Sara or Dmitri. Sharing an awkward glance with Sara, Dmitri scratched the back of his head as he headed for the bathroom. Sara mouthed 'I'll wait outside' to Colin, who again nodded and continued staring at the wall.

"Well comrade, I'm sorry about what happened. Maybe you can buy another V Pet and head on back in. I doubt they're too strict about letting player back in so long as they have a Digimon."

Not too fond of the idea, Colin decided to get his mind off of his recent failure and grabbed some laundry that needed to be washed. Upon reaching the hallway outside, Sara grabbed him by his good shoulder and, checking to see that no one else was outside, whipered in his ear.

"Look, I might get in trouble for telling you this, but apparently there's this guy who can help you reclaim your lost Digimon data if it means that much to you. He actually left a message for you by name just a few moments before I bumped into you. Said 'there's a way to return him' and then just left. Don't know what he'll charge you for it, but if you really want to keep your brother happy, he's your best bet."

Brightening up a bit and looking at Sara gratefully yet again, Colin pressed her for more.

"Thank, you're the best. I am gonna need to know this guy's name in order to find him, though."

"He didn't tell me his name, but I think I know who he is, from what gossip I hear from other players."

Looking around once more, she saw that the elevator was coming up, and spoke quickly.

"He's called Lucky Mouse. Look for him behind the hotel's kitchen at 9."

Finished relaying the message, she turned to go. Having apparently forgotten something else, she turned back. Instead of telling Colin something more, she planted a quick kiss on his cheek, and added.

"Whatever you decide, when you're done you can come visit me. To you know, _redress your bandages._"

With that, she walked on over to the opening elevator and disappeared inside. Colin stood there, not sure what was making him happier, and decided to get back to his laundry, and planned out what else to do for the day until 9.

* * *

><p>Cyber Sheep Main Lobby, 9:00 p.m.

Having talked Dmitri out of pity buying him a replacement Wanyamon at a nearby store that was selling cheap Virtual Pets, Colin headed out alone to the back alley behind the hotel's kitchen. Standing there alone for five minutes, ignoring the hoboes wrestling over a sketchy magazine, he was suddenly blinded by someone with a standard kidnapping potato sack and thrown into a van. They didn't go far, as only a couple of minutes, maybe ten, went by before they stopped, dragged him out of the back and walked him over to a seat somewhere. When they took off the bag, Colin saw that he was in some sort of make shift homemade replica of the arcade back in the hotel, except it only had five VR machines. The other thing that he noticed is that 'they' was simply one guy in a trench coat, who hadn't even hit him or tied him to the chair. Colin looked very irritated, and upon getting his bearings walked over to the man standing before him and clocked him in the jaw. The man stayed on the floor for a moment, nursing his jaw, before simply standing back up again and addressing Colin.

"Well, that was warranted. I did just sort of abduct you. So, I see you took me on my offer."

"Starting to regret that decision."

"Don't, it's the only way you can get Maul back. Trust me, MAGAMI isn't going to help you with this, even if you are on their payroll."

Seeing that he had shocked Colin with both Kumamon's personal name and his knowledge of Colin being a reviewer of the game, he continued.

"Yes, I know about Kumamon's name and your reviewer duties to the game designers. Only it isn't really a game."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's better if I let Shin fill you in when you return. You are going to return, aren't you?"

"How can I? I thought once you lost your partner, you can't go back online. And how do you know Elecmon?"

"Under most circumstances, yes. But you and others like you, have something that special about you that allows people like me to give you a second chance."

Skeptical of this phrasing, Colin raised an eyebrow.

"And what would that be?"

"Your Digimon partners. They're real, living creatures. Not artificial drones designed only for the amusement of otakus, gamers, and children."

"What?"

"You had to have noticed the difference when you were there. The way Kumamon would act as opposed to some of the Digimon you encountered."

It wasn't hard for Colin to remember how efficient are reliable Kumamon was, as opposed to other A.I.'s he had come across in games before. The further back he remembered, the clear it came to him. The shop owners in Popsicle Town, the elders in both Villages, they were all very stiff, very automated. Both groups of elders had moments when they just seemed to freeze up, likely receiving new orders the operators. On the other hand, Digimon like that SnowAgumon seemed to go out of their way to help him, or creatures like the Goblimon gang would hold onto grudges and try to track him down. Looking up again at the supposed 'Lucky Mouse', he answered.

"…there was something unique about him."

"You're skeptical, I get it. This isn't something most reasonable people will just buy off the bat, but I'm telling you. Your partner is real, and there is a chance to save him before the elders get to him."

This got Colin attention,

"WHAT?"

"The elders have standing orders to eliminate anomalies where they see them. That's why they had you go out and attempt to wipe out both the Gizamon and the Icemon. And now that Kumamon's data is loose and unprotected, he's up for termination as well."

"I'm not letting that happen."

"So you believe me already?"

"…"

"Well, there's still hope for you. But if you want to save him, you have to act tonight. If you do this, you can't be seen using the main arcade terminals again. Officials might start to wonder how you got your partner back, and I don't need the beef of closing up shop and moving all this junk."

"…what do I need to do?"

* * *

><p>And now, things get serious.<p> 


	8. Chapter 8: Do You Want To Continue?

06/13/2012

Disclaimer: I currently am not in the possession to the rights of either Digimon, Kamen Rider (lyrics), or anything else found within this fanfiction.

FanAuthor's Note: at the time of writing this, I hope this chapter doesn't take as long as Chapter 7 to write. Here's hoping.

Chapter 8: Do You Want To Continue?

* * *

><p>Secret Location, 9:13 p.m.

"You absolutely sure you want to-"

"Yes, let's do this already. You've already kidnapped me, don't get weak-kneed now."

Smiling at his 'captives' attitude, the supposed 'Lucky Mouse' directed Colin to one of the makeshift Virtual Reality machines he had set up in the room. Taking a seat in one, the boy noticed something different about its design.

"Where's the slot for my pass card? And the Timer?"

"Well one, you won't be using your pass card from here on. Unless you want MAGAMI to know you're hacking into 'their game'."

"Wait, you're hacking into the game?"

"What did you think I was doing, does this place seem very 'legal' to you?"

Colin opened his mouth to respond, but LM raised and hand and said.

"-don't answer that. Anyway, as to the Timer, you won't need one."

"What are you, crazy? If you spend more than 5 hours under you'll-"

"Actually the least about of time recommended is 7, they just force you down to five so that other players get a chance, and for MAGAMI to make money with repeat customers. And if you're worried about losing track of time, I'll be here monitoring your vitals and will pull you out whenever it's time to eject you."

"You seem to think I'm going to make return trips. This is a onetime thing. I go in, save Maul, and get out. You said yourself, I can't use the arcade again after this, and I don't think MAGAMI will continue to pay for my hotel room for long."

"Okay, so you'll lose your hotel room. Doesn't mean you can't stay in New York in another hotel afterwards."

"You're not hearing me. I have no business here after I do this. I don't need to get involved in anymore hacker shit when this is over."

"Whatever, we'll see. Just stick your V Pet in the slot and put on the helmet, will yah?"

Wanting to end their conversation as much as LM did, he did as he was told and put the rather authentic VR helmet on.

* * *

><p>Hidden Loading Log-In

Finding himself once again in a white void, Colin found that he was once again naked (or what passed for naked in a rated-T game with blurred privates). While initially annoyed by this, he was soon greeted by a menu similar to the one the official Load Outs provided, albeit without the annoying voice that took glee in dropping his ass when he was done. Smiling upon realizing that he'd never have to deal with that evil announcer again, he happily selected the same outfit he had chosen before. Satisfied, he hit finished on the menu and it disappeared. Realizing that he wasn't moving yet, he called out to his 'operator'.

"Hey, Lucky Mouse, right? You mind sending me where I need to be?"

"Oh hey, you know my name. Sure thing, give me a sec. I wasn't sure you were done applying your makeup yet."

Floating impatiently in the middle of the void, it suddenly occurred to him that he hadn't specified how he'd prefer to be sent back.

"Hey Lucky, could you make sure not to simply drop-"

It was too late, he was already dropping. Colin swore he heard the young man chuckle, and cursed aloud as he fell.

"Oh you Mother FUUUUUUU-"

* * *

><p>Outskirts of Popsicle Town

"CCCKEEEERRR!"

Landing in an unceremonious heap on top of some conveniently placed snow; Colin popped himself out of the ground like a sentient vegetable. Looking around, he could make out that he was on the Path to Mirror Lake. He then noticed that there was something rather bright behind him. Turning around, he saw that Popsicle Town was alight. Purple flames burnt cottages and buildings, and he could hear Tamers and various Digimon screaming.

"Horrifying, isn't it?"

Spinning around so as to find the person addressing him, Colin stopped after he realized that it was Lucky Mouse's voice.

"Oh god, you're in my head."

"Sort of, I'm actually-"

"Yeah yeah, I know you're not psychic, it's just some tech-garble-whatever that allows you to project your voice into my head. I don't care how it's done; it's going to get old real fast."

"What are you talking about; this is going to be hilarious."

When Colin glared up at the sky, as if LM was some god, he cheekily added.

"Hilarious for me, that is. Anyway, you might want to stay as far away from town as possible, considering all the crap that's going on down there."

"You expect me to leave-"

"All those innocent Digimon? And here I thought you didn't believe that Digimon were sentient."

"…there are Tamers getting attacked too."

"Yeah, that's true. They'll all probably get as badly banged up like you as well."

Annoyed that this guy he knew so little about seemed to know just about everything that's happened to him in game so far, Colin tried to dismiss his suggestion.

"I was injured while I was under the VR. I wasn't actually harmed by any Digimon attacks."

"Then explain how you got that lovely injury on your left shoulder in both the Digital World and the Real one. Oh, and by the way, how is your arm, currently?"

Getting rather annoyed by his new 'companion', Colin checked his arm anyway, and found that here it still hurt if he pressed it too much. Grimacing, he remained silent, which LM took as a cue to continue speaking.

"Well, enough chatter; let's get you going so you can save Maul and kiss this world goodbye, eh."

Still not saying anything, Colin took one last look at Popsicle Town, where he saw a familiar fire giant engage a tall, blue ogre like Digimon with long hair. Turning away, he headed down the path towards the lake, when Lucky Mouse stopped him.

"Woah there buddy, going the wrong way there. Elecmon wouldn't just leave your pal out on the ice for the Sorcermon elders to snatch up and snuff out. Here, follow the glowing arrow."

A literal glowing yellow arrow appeared before Colin, pointing back to Flake Woods. Lucky Mouse's mockingly condescending tone was beginning to piss the Tamer off, but he bit back the curses he wanted to let fly. _Just get our buddy back and go. Just get our buddy…present back and go. Great, now his otaku rhetoric is actually affecting me. Digimon are not real, this is a game. A game I am currently hacking into illegally to get back a $ 15 present my little brother got me. And the amount of time I can spend in jail for violating some form of player confidentiality will likely be about 20-50 years, if MAGAMI really pushes for the harsh punishment. Way to get your priories straight, Colin._

Following the arrow around the town, sneaking behind the crumbling walls that surrounded it, Colin made his way over to Flake Woods' entrance. Upon making it there, Lucky Mouse spoke up again.

"Alright, here comes the interesting part. You've got a little bit of a gauntlet to go through, since you don't have Kumamon to protect you."

"You're saying I'm going to have to dodge and avoid any wild Digimon that might be nearby."

"Well yeah, unless you want this trip to end early."

Not needing another word of warning, Colin proceeded down the path towards wherever Shin might be.

* * *

><p>Download Plain

"**Bolt Strike!**"

"**Bolt Strike!**"

"**Gobli Bomb!**"

Metal spike balls and small explosives bounced and exploded on the ground near and around a fleeing red rabbit-like creature. The spiky balls would occasionally fire off their spikes upon striking the ground, in an attempt to wound Shin as he fled the Orgemon Brothers gang behind him. Holding in his mouth a silver D-Arc with a bright white light shining through its screen, Shin made sure every step he took kept him balanced, so as not to drop the cube.

All around him herds of Artificial Digimon were eyeing him and the Orgemon gang, and Shin picked up the pace to wherever he was headed out of concern.

_I know I usually aren't that careful about where I present myself, but being out in an open field full of puppet Digimon and nasty real ones is probably the stupidest move I've mad so far. And I'm not the only one at risk right now._

Biting down harder on the strap attached to the digivice, the Elecmon became more focused as he made certain his cargo was still with him.

"Come on, Colin. I can't keep Kumamon safe forever. Lucky Mouse had better not of sent him back through Flake Woods."

* * *

><p>Flake Woods

"Hey, Tinkerbell. Way to not guide me down the safe path."

Before Colin was a mini-horde of his 'best friends', the Orgemon Brothers. The Goblimon, some Shamanmon, and the blue Goblimon from Mirror Lake were all facing away from him, targeting random Digimon out on the Download Plain. Thankfully, they hadn't heard Colin approached due to all the explosions their attacks were causing, and he slipped into a bush off the road so as not to be spotted.

"Hey, I'm not omniscient. How was I to know there was a group sent this way already? And besides, I told you that you'd have to run a gauntlet."

"Gauntlet and 'suicide run' are in fact to different things. This is a suicide run. Thank you for getting me killed."

"Oh, so you're dead already?"

"No."

"Then quit whining. There's a way to get through this."

Looking around, Colin failed to see a clear path on either side of the horde, having spread themselves out wide on the Plain's side of the forest entrance.

"Unless you're suggesting I jump over them."

"Well there's an idea."

"You're kidding, right?"

"You see any other options?"

Cursing quietly to himself, Colin scoped for an ideal spot to leap over the antagonistic gang, a spot with the fewest Goblimon cluttered around. Finding one, he gave himself a minute of preparation before dashing forward.

"Gangway, got places to be Osborn! Out of the way, you orc rejects!"

Surprised to hear someone coming up behind them, and having the balls to start calling them names, the two Goblimon Colin had chosen to vault over turned to see an African-American teenager leap and glide over their heads. They were too stunned by this act to actually respond, and only returned to normal when the lad was a god 5 paces away.

"Get that damn human, he's alone!"

Not questioning the oddity of a human not having a partner and yet inhabiting their world, the Horde immediately focused its strikes towards Colin, who was really starting to regret this course of action.

"Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea!"

* * *

><p>Noticing that even the long ranged attacks had stopped focusing on him, Shin turned his head around slightly to see why. He then saw a lone boy being peppered with explosions and flying spikes. Looking carefully, he recognized the silver accessories and the scar running down the boy's left eye.<p>

"Baihumon damn it, Lucky Mouse! You were supposed to send Colin directly to me!"

"Well you weren't in the agreed upon spot, so we had to follow your signature. Not that he knows that, I just had him follow a yellow arrow."

"I couldn't stay at the spot, or didn't you notice the Goblimon that are now attacking the poor boy? And you were supposed to get him in at 9:10 at the latest. What happened?"

"Well it took some convincing to get him to sign on."

"He came to you, he was more than willing. Did you even meet him at the spot on time?"

"…I may have stopped for a subway beforeh-"

"Damn it, Lucky! Now I have to risk ALL THREE of us to get him away."

Planting the D-Arc under a rock for safety and carving an x into with his electric powers, Shin ran back the way he came, glowing brightly as he went and not stopping even when the energy egg engulfed him.

Elecmon…digivolve to…**Leomon! RAWR!**

* * *

><p>Hearing a familiar roar ahead of him, Colin tried putting more speed into his stride, while still feeling the occasional nick at his legs and ankles from an exploding 'Bolt Strike'.<p>

"Leomon, are you a sight for sore eyes!"

"Hang on; I'll be there in a moment!"

"Oh take your time, no rush. There's only an ENTIRE HORDE OF ANGRY-ASS DIGIMON TRYING TO KILL ME!"

"Sounds like someone's taking this 'game' a little bit too seriously."

"SHUT UP AND SAVE ME!"

Smiling, Leomon caught up to the boy. Running by him and bringing himself in front of the fleeing boy, Leomon called back to him.

"Grab your D-Arc by that mark rock and keep on running towards that creek. I'll convince our 'friends' not to follow."

"Got it, and thank you."

"Not a problem."

"Helping out a human, Leomon? Do you have any honor?"

"Who are YOU to talk about honor? **Fist of the Beast King!**"

_Latoratah! Latoratah! Lata Lata, Latoratah!_

_Latoratah! Latoratah! Lata Lata, Latoratah!_

Sending out blast after blast of scorching fireballs, Leomon forced the assorted virus Digimon to scatter out of fear. Knowing that that wouldn't keep them back for long, if the massacre at Popsicle Village was any indication, Leomon grinned and ran back towards where Colin was waiting.

"Thanks for taking my D-Arc when I…died, I guess. So where'd you leave Maul's data."

Directing Colin to continue running with him towards yet another forest, Leomon pointed at the D-Arc and spoke.

"He's in there. But we can't do anything for him here."

"So where are we going, Primary Village? That's where Digimon get reborn, right?"

Leomon gave him an amused look.

"Ah ha ha, no. I'm already on everyone's hit list, so I don't need to go and give those puppet Elecmon a chance to please his masters. Also, how do you know about that?"

"Again, my brother. He made a big deal about Patamon coming back or something, so I at least know that."

They kept running into the forest for a good 10 minutes, Leomon looking back every once in a while to make sure they weren't being followed. Finally, once he was satisfied they had gone far enough, Leomon de-digivolved back to Elecmon.

"Alright, I sure we lost them. Come on, it isn't wise for us to stay in Bootsector Forest for too long."

"Bootsector?"

"Like the computer virus."

"Ah. Jeez, that's a horrible thing to name a place."

Smiling, Shin continued.

"If we're going to save Maul, we need to make it to Hyperlink Town."

"Another computer related name?"

"Yup."

Sighing, Colin asked a more relevant question.

"So what exactly is in Hyperlink Town that'll help Maul?"

"Not what, who. My friend Starmon is getting pretty good at reconstructing damaged Digimon."

"'Getting pretty good'?"

"Oh calm down, they all turn out fine. Some may need more Hyper Charges than others, given the circumstances."

"I'm assuming that Hyper Charges are related to Power Charges?"

"Correct."

They continued on for a while in silence, until something occurred to Colin.

"You're in a much better mood than usual."

"Am I? Must be the lack of smug bastard in the area."

Knowing who he was referring to, Colin bowed his head as he walked and replied.

"Wish you two would try to get along. Wonder what he's up to right about now."

* * *

><p>Popsicle Town, 40 minutes ago.

Two lights flew towards a heavily barricaded Popsicle Town. Upon landing nicely on their feet (or in the candle's case, holder), the two figures found that all the NPC Digimon were either manning the walls, or directing Tamers who were still in town to where the ideal 'camping' spots were. Dmitri and Candlemon found themselves confronted by a slightly irate looking Sorcermon council.

"It would appear you and all other Tamers we sent to clear Mirror Lake have failed. We now have to route an entire horde of Icemon, Gizamon, SnowGoblimon, and their commanders."

Even without knowing where Asami was, and with Colin not there with him, Dmitri wasn't one to take crap from any, 'program' or otherwise.

"Okay a.) That horde is what you sent three, count 'em, three kids and their only Champion-level Digimon off to fight alone, and b.) What the hell do you mean 'Gizamon'? Those guys were scripted as the good guys; they weren't interested in attacking the town."

The lead Sorcermon's eyes turned blue again, with random text going up as it remained in its 'trance'. Even though Dmitri knew a bit about computers himself, the language was scrolling up too fast for him to decipher, and the eyes clearly weren't showing the full message. When the Digimon returned to normal, it addressed Dmitri again.

"We're sorry if that's how the mission was presented to you. There are some hackers messing with the game, and they altered the story so as to rob you of extra experience points you would have gained deleting the Gizamon as well."

"Really? Seems like a pretty lame prank to pull, even for hackers."

Dmitri said this while resisting the urge to move his hand towards his D-Arc, knowing that if the Sorcermon caught wind that he was downloading specs from the game through his virtual Digivice, he'd get booted like Colin, only more harshly.

The Sorcermon looked like it was about to respond, when both it and Dmitri heard familiar and unwelcome cries echo from outside the town.

"**Chaos Blaster!**"

"**Ice Blast!**"

The walls of the town were pelted by both purple flames and a frosty wind. Some lower-level Digimon froze the instant they were engulfed by the mini blizzard. Others were scorched and flew off the battlements into some cottages. Not waiting for Sorcermon to make it an order, Dmitri ran ahead, drawing out his Digivolution card and motioning with his hand for Candlemon to follow.

**Digi-Modify: Digivolution Activate!**

Noticing that his D-Arc wasn't the sole one to make that sound, Dmitri looked to his left and saw Asami and an energy egg of her own running alongside her as he went. Catching her attention, they shared a smile as they went, until Asami noticed that Colin wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Candlemon…digivolve to…**Meramon!**

Kotemon…digivolve to…**DinoHyumon! Humph!**

"Where's Colin? He didn't want to come?"

Asami was worried whether or not her declining his offer earlier had made things awkward, having not seen what happened after that due to her partner being attack by Seadramon next.

"His Kumamon was deleted by Hyogamon, while it was still a SnowGoblimon. It's going to be one of the commanders we need to take out."

"Well I certainly don't mind you two helping, but you're not going to be the ones to take them out."

The two turned to see another tamer run alongside them, a girl with anime green hair that formed one curly ponytail to her right side. She had a green star tattooed on her cheek, and was about as old as Dmitri, give or take. She smiled and flashed a V symbol with her fingers.

"Names Reiko, the future Tamer Queen. Try not to be too jealous."

Dmitri chuckled at their new acquaintances attitude, while Asami was preoccupied with the fact that Colin couldn't join them anymore. That and the new girl annoyed her a little.

_Great, one of the few kids online who isn't a complete ass can't come and play anymore because of some stupid rule. Sure, he should have been more careful with how he played the game, but is that any reason to permanently boot him?_ She thought back to when she last saw him, which was right about the time he had knocked her out of the way of Seadramon's attack. Mentally take back what she said about Colin being inexperienced, and recalling that he had even helped save Kotemon from deletion, Asami tried to decide how to repay him. _…Maybe if I contact my father, he can get the MAGAMI corp. to…no, that won't do._ _He'll just reprimand me, telling me that I know better than to get fully involved some kids I just met, let alone kids I met online. And he's already pulled enough strings just to get me a private suit here in New York and my own VR machine that can access the American Server. Maybe I should take him up on his offer. I get Dmitri to relay the message, providing he doesn't get booted as well._

"Asami, pay attention will you?"

_Gata Gata Gata Ga!_

Confused as to who was calling her out of her thoughts, she saw that DinoHyumon was once again engaging Gururumon, and since Dmitri was focusing on the SnowGoblimon horde and the new girl, Reiko, had her Seasarmon fighting Icemon, the only one who would have called out to her was DinoHyumon. But he usually called her 'mistress'.

_Gata Gata Gata Ga!_

"I'm sorry, shall I continue to address you as 'mistress?" he asked, as if reading her thoughts.

"I need assistance, 'mistress'!"

Ignoring his continual bad mood, she drew two of his favorite power ups from her deck, and slashed them through her D-Arc. Reiko noticed how she performed it and giggled.

"Awww, you have a little Sentai routine, that's precious. Not going to get you any points as a real Tamer, but cute."

For the first time in a while, DinoHyumon and Asami shared a genuinely touching moment. Granted, that touching moment was them exchanging glances that expressed their distaste for the new girl, but it was touching none the less.

**Digi-Modify: Ronin Blade Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Hyper Chip Activate!**

Gaining his favorite katana in place of the huge blade that forms on his back as default, DinoHyumon noticed how the combo with hyper chip caused the blade to glow red, with weird energy radiating off of it. More curious as to how this energy would possibly harm an opponent, DinoHyumon charged towards his enemy, also equipping from his belt one of the small butchers knives in his left hand.

_Gata Gatakiriba! Gata Gatakiriba! Gata Gatakiriba! Gata Gata Gatakiriba!_

"**Lizard Dance!**"

Having seen this attack before, Gururumon was prepared for the standard routine. DinoHyumon would run up to him and cross his arms, having one blade located up near his head and another one lower, near his hip. He would then start spinning as fast he could, creating a twisting and intimidating blur of sharp edges. Confident he could match DinoHyumon's speed, all Gururumon had to do was get him by the legs, then he could bring the damn lizard down and-

"**Akinakes!**"

_Gata Gatakiriba! Gata Gatakiriba! Gata Gatakiriba! Gata Gata Gatakiriba!_

Using the speed he'd gained from the last move, DinoHyumon tossed the butcher knife suddenly at Gururumon, who wasn't expecting the attack and got impaled in his shoulder. He then wasn't prepared as well for DinoHyumon's downward slash using his Ronin Blade, which would have cleaved all the way through his skull if not for some fancy last-minute footwork. Unfortunately for Gururumon, he couldn't escape the damage the attack had inflicted on his digital brain, and he was now blind and couldn't feel his hind legs.

"Curse you, you damn soft-skin lover! We're just trying to oust these damn humans, the ones who've claimed our homes for their stupid games! You know this better than anyone. Why are you helping them?"

In response, DinoHyumon expertly chucked his remaining knife between an Icemon and the Jijimon and Babamon it was harassing earlier.

"Because you're much worse, and you're doing a lot more than 'just ousting these damn human'. Now I'm going to pay you back for abandoning me, Chapmon, and the others when we were little."

Tensing up out of fear, Gururumon pleaded with his former friend.

"Oh come on, Kotemon. We were all In-Training, I was scared. What did you expect of me?"

"Not to deliberately lead us all into a trap to get yourself out of a debt!"

"I didn't know how serious they were back then, and considering what they in the middle of pulling off right now-"

He blindly motioned to the chaos erupting around them.

"-you should really consider not getting in their way."

"I'll take that under advisement. When I'm done with you."

"NO, please!"

"**Akina-**"

"**Bolt Strike!**"

A single spike ball struck DinoHyumon out of nowhere, and sent him flying back a good bit. A lone SnowGoblimon approached the two, Gururumon sniffing the air to identify exactly which one it was. And he seemed to lose color in his face as he did.

"He-hey boss, thanks for assist."

"Assist?"

Glowing red, both Asami and Dmitri's digivices beeped out a familiar warning.

**Warning: Wild Digimon Digivolving**

SnowGoblimon…digivolve to…**Hyogamon!**

Retaining his cold expression, Hyogamon had a constantly open mouth, frozen in a kind of demonic smile. Out of his shoulders jutted two icicles, one per shoulder, and one that formed a horn on his head. In place of his mace, he held a single sharp icicle. Fixing his chilling gaze on the blind but aware Gururumon, he replied in the calmest voice possible.

"I am here to correct your failure. And any Digimon that fail in my midst-"

His became louder, and rather erratic, as if he had totally switched gears inside his head.

"-are exterminated! **ICE CUDGEL!**"

The icicle became wider at its top, and multiple spikes instant formed, making it appear like a mace. Swing the mace with amazing speed; he brought it down upon Gururumon's head. The wolf Digimon couldn't resist, both because his legs weren't working, and because he was simply paralyzed by fear.

DinoHyumon was disgusted by the display.

"You killed your own lackey."

Hyogamon faced him, with an aloof look about his face.

"You were about to do the same."

"You're his employer."

"Was his employer. And you think that entitles him some form of protection from my wrath? Those that displease me cease to when I deem it. For example-"

He pointed his mace in Asami's direction.

"Your soft skin. The mere sight of her makes my stomach turn. I just want to toss her broken body off of Infinity mountain, or maybe…"

He didn't get to finish his rather vivid monologue, as he was busy clashing weapons with the incensed DinoHyumon.

"No one threatens Asami. Not even one of the Orgemon Brother's heads."

"Is that so?"

"I agree with my lizard 'friend', keep away from the human."

Sensing his next attack from behind him, Hyogamon brought his free hand up behind him and jabbed in that direction.

"**Ice Punch!**"

A wave of cold energy rocketed towards the new opponent, who just grinned with his sewed up mouth and launched an attack of his own.

"**Fireball!**"

Since fire has a tendency of defeating ice, the wave of frost disappeared as the fireball flew through it and continued on to collide with the unprepared Hyogamon. DinoHyumon had to disengage and roll out of the way so as not to be sent flying along with him.

"What the hell, Meramon! I was right there!"

Giving his alley a cold glare, he responded.

"Next time, don't go after other people's Tamers. You don't like people going after Asami, so don't let me catch you EVER even bumping into Dmitri. Do we understand each other?"

Seeing that his actions last session had angered his friend, the lizard man nodded. Seemingly okay with this response, Meramon chased after his new prey, while calling back to DinoHyumon.

"Go find yourself a new target. He's mine now."

"Greedy smuck."

Slightly embarrassed at his partner's behavior, Dmitri maneuvered through the crowd of Tamers and battling Digimon over to Asami.

"Sorry about that, don't know what got into him."

"Of course you do, you programed him to say that, didn't you?"

"Okay, okay, so what I said early was kind of a dickish accusation."

"Kind of?"

"Fine, it was simply dickish of me to say. Happy?"

"A little. By the way, when this is over, could you do something for me?"

"What's that?"

"Tell Colin to meet me at Times Square, near that huge Lion King billboard. There's something I want to talk to-"

Out of the corner of her eye, the Asami swore she saw said boy, judging by his silver garments. He didn't seem to see her, being more focused on Meramon's battle with Hyogamon. And at times it seemed like he was talking to someone, but she couldn't see anyone else on the main road.

"Colin?"

"Huh, where?"

"Over there."

"Who's Colin? Is he cute?"

Reiko's comment for some reason unknown to Asami caused her to get very annoyed with the girl.

"None of your concern. It couldn't have been him anyway."

"No need to be all mean, meanie. He's not your boyfriend or anything, is he?"

* * *

><p>Blistering Path, Present Time

Colin looked down at his D-Arc, the screen still blank save for the intense glow what was left of Maul let off. Thinking back to the state he had seen the village in when he left there, he couldn't help but think of his friends, even though he was still convinced that this was just a game.

"I hope those two are doing alright."

"Meramon knows how to handle himself, especially against ice Digimon. DinoHyumon I'm not so sure about."

"Well yeah, I'm concerned about those two as well, but I meant-"

"Asami and Mr. Know-it-all, I know."

He realized how hypocritical that sounded considering the nickname he had just given Dmitri, but ignored it and moved on.

"I'm sure they're fine, and so long as they're Digimon stay alive, you can entertain the thought of bumping into them eventually."

"Eventually?"

"Oh right, Lucky Mouse told me how after this, 'you done'."

"Well let's say this isn't my last dive in, what did you still mean by that?"

"As of 40 minutes ago, you're now a ghost. By ghost I mean you cannot allow anyone to see you that may recognize that you're an illegal player. Anyone who does see you needs to be either deleted or avoided. You do plan on staying at the hotel a little longer, right?"

"I don't have money for anything else."

"Meh, that can be taken care of."

Not liking the sound of that, Colin pushed the issue.

"Nothing illegal, Shin."

"This is already pretty damn illegal as it is."

"Doesn't mean I need to add any other crimes to the list."

Smiling, Elecmon nudged his traveling partner's leg.

"You're a bit too good for your own-"

"Do not finish that sentence; you're just going to make me fill in for Dmitri."

Shin playfully flashed his razor sharp teeth.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

"Humph, fine. Let's just keep going shall we?"

"By the way, what kind of town is Hyperlink Town anyway?"

"Oh you know your standard Old West Styled town. Which reminds me, be prepared to for Deputymon, he likes to have a friendly duel with newcomers."

"…what?"

* * *

><p><span>FanAuthor's Note:<span> There, see? That was to long of a wait.


	9. Chapter 9: On The Run

07/04/2012

Disclaimer: By my calculations, I shall have acquired the rights to Digimon, Kamen Rider, and other mentioned properties featured in this chapter, right about…Never. Pity, I had such plans (Muhahaha).

FanAuthor's Note: Fun fact. Laptop stopped working during a trip, and half of the intended chapter 9 was on said laptop. Not wanting to wait till it was fixed, I decided to restart writing the chapter. I'll incorporate some things I wrote before into this one, but I just couldn't wait another week.

Also, for those not interested in OC centered fics, worry not. Some actual franchise characters are slated to appear. Not anytime soon, by realistic estimates of when I get chapters out, but eventually. I have plans, most diabolical plans (muhahahaha, again).

Chapter 9: On the Run

* * *

><p>Blistering Path

_Break, Away from Everybody,_

The two travel companions continued on to Hyperlink Town. Night had fallen on the fabled Blistering Path, and the moon didn't so much as mildly warm the area around the two of them. Colin had decided to see whether or not he could continue to play music on his D-Arc as it was now. It seemed to be working fine.

_Break, Away from Everything._

Elecmon gave his friend a slightly annoyed look, as the D-Arc lacked headphones and the song was being blasted loud enough for likely the whole desert to hear.

_If you can't stand, the way this place is,_

_Take yourself to higher places._

"Do you mind?"

"Sorry?"

"Turning down the music a bit?"

"_If you can't stand…_"

"Don't make me zap you."

Smiling, Colin complied and brought down the volume, all the while whistling.

"You seem to be in a better mood."

"Didn't I say the same thing to you recently?"

"Yeah, but still, you were a little sour a while ago."

"Guess it's just the-"

"Hi there, kids."

"Oh god, you're still here."

The two of them could here LM laughing away inside their heads.

"Well someone's got to look out for you two fools."

"Colin, play nice with the wanted hacker."

"…If I must."

Going on a few minutes without saying a word to one another, Colin thought of something else to talk about.

"So Shin, about your friend Starmon. By friend I assume that he's like you, right?"

"You mean is he an 'anomaly' likes me, as the Elders like to refer to us? Yup, otherwise we wouldn't be able to actually reform Maul, and I'd get deleted while you'd get instantly booted and eventually arrested."

"I ask a simple question and you go and remind me, once again, that what I'm doing is illegal. Thank you Shin, I had forgotten since the last time you brought it up."

"Well someone's getting cranky."

"Shut up, Lucky."

Lucky chuckled a little, and then spoke solely to Shin.

"Hey, weren't you going to fill him in on the Digital World?"

"Did you tell him I was going to do that?"

Colin, not having heard Lucky a moment ago and hearing Shin seeming talking to him, responded.

"Did I tell who what?"

"Not you Colin, Lucky. Give us a second."

"Well yeah, I thought it'd be better hearing about this place's creation from you."

"You and I disagree on how the Digital World was formed."

"There are parts that both of us do agree on, though. Come on, he'll just dismiss anything I say. It's you he trusts."

Sighing, Shin turned towards Colin as they continued their journey.

"Apparently Lucky said that I'd fill you in on how the Digital World was formed. Care for a history lesson?"

"Is this how MAGAMI says they created it, or your version?"

"I prefer to think of it as the 'true' version, but yes, it'll be my side of the story."

"I've never been one to hate story time as a kid. Sure, why not?"

* * *

><p>Popsicle Town

"**Fireball!**"

"**Snow Punch!**"

The two weary Digimon repeatedly clashed their ranged attacks. For the first time since he started playing the game, Dmitri was not in complete control of a fight.

The two Champions struck again and again, becoming the focus of battle for Popsicle Town. Even DinoHyumon and Seasarmon's fight with Seadramon was second fiddle in attention to the duel between Meramon and Hyogamon. Dmitri was barely noticing how much attention he was getting, due to how badly the fight was going for them.

Hyogamon was on an entirely different level, when compared to the other Champion level Digimon Dmitri and Meramon had faced up to that point. Having already used a combo involving his Lighter and Kunemon hive cards, as well as wasting his Flymon card prematurely and Gasoline card, and now using Energy to keep a winded Meramon moving, Dmitri was very irate.

_I try increasing Meramon's power, and all Hyogamon does is dodge and make Meramon waste his energy. Now he's running on fumes; wasn't I chewing out Colin and Asami for being just this situation a few hours ago?_

Returning his thoughts to the fight before, Dmitri used one of the Weak Codes installed in his D-Arc to refresh his deck, as well as a Power Charge to refresh Meramon. The Digimon immediately perked up after this, attacking the Ice Troll anew. Choosing a more aggressive tactic this time around, he slide three cards through his D-Arc, hoping to end this battle quickly.

**Digi-Modify: Gasoline Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Lighter Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Woodmon (2x) Activate!**

Meramon appeared to be suddenly coated with oil, which caused his flames to intensify greatly, as well as gaining a red lighter in his right hand. At the same time, two Woodmon drones appeared in front of him. Hyogamon was unimpressed by this, and simply raised his ice club defensively. Meramon stared down his opponent, before motioning for the Woodmon to attack.

"Take this, **Fireball!**"

Hitting both of the Woodmon with a fireball, the two Nature Digimon sparked up like a bonfire, but still remained for the most part intact. Taking up positions on either side of Hyogamon, the two flaming sentinels lunged forwards, clearly planning to catch him between them.

"Woody Smash."

Hyogamon simply leaped over the two, the burning tree Digimon colliding beneath him and briefly resembling a burning pile of logs before disappearing into data. Hyogamon looked almost smug for a moment, before he felt an uncomfortable and recognizable heat about 5 feet in front of him. Looking up as opposed to the now nonexistent Woodmon, the ice troll saw a soaring Meramon, who was positioning the lighter before his mouth, and roared into it like it was a microphone.

"**Magma Blast!**"

Molten rocks flew of in all directions from Meramon, while a rather large blue stream of fire flew off of the lighter that Meramon had roared into, striking Hyogamon square in the chest. The blue flame moved faster than the rest of the attack, and Hyogamon found that he couldn't avoid the molten rocks as they also struck him before he even returned to the ground. Landing on his back unceremoniously, Hyogamon quickly jumped back upright, and released a volley of counter attacks as Meramon began to descend.

"**Snow Punch! Snow Punch!**"

The wintery blasts removed a good deal of the extra heat Meramon had gained, and Dmitri grimaced as Hyogamon actually resorted to taunting.

"And just as you were 'Evening' the playing field with your little toys, I, a real Digimon, show how weak you really are compared to me."

_Goddamn, this difficultly curve came out of nowhere. How is this fair at all? First day seems easy, with only a Kunemon swarm and a Tapirmon herd to deal with. Heck, even this morning was more manageable._ He then recalled how Colin had been doing just about as well as he had, before having his Kumamon deleted by this very same Boss Digimon. _I am not getting booted out like Colin. No disrespect to the guy, but I have something a little more serious to do here than 'playing for my little brother'_.

Bringing his strapped D-Arc up to his face when no one was looking, he was able to see that it had downloaded a good deal of the game's environmental and spawning specs, as well as something that both surprised and alarmed Dmitri. On his D-Arc were schematics for some sorts of weapons. Among them was a gun like device that from what little Japanese Dmitri knew off-hand, seemed to suggest that pointing this thing at an electronic device or even a building and firing it would either simply turn off its power or corrupt it in some way, though it got rather vague in that part of the description. The schematics that had his undivided attention, however, were the ones that depicted some sort of tank like vehicle.

_What the hell? I better get paid well for this weird sh-_

"What'cha looking at?"

Shocked out of his little world, Dmitri quickly hid his D-Arc to his side as he came face to face with an overly-curious Reiko. She had apparently switched targets and was having Seasarmon engage a group of Icemon.

"Nothing that concerns you. Do you mind?"

Pouting, Reiko ran off to rejoin her Seasarmon, who was still fighting any Icemon it encountered. It was surprisingly quiet for a partner Digimon, from what Dmitri had experienced so far. _Even Candlemon regularly quips when it hits Champion level. What's up with hers, does it not come with pre-made taunts?_

"Seasarmon, don't leave any Icemon for the meanies, they're no fun."

"Complying."

Targeting a group of Icemon, it unceremoniously began to engage them, no jokes or threats, just simply assaulting them.

"Sun's Courage."

Not even raising its voice when calling out its attack, Seasarmon leaped above the Icemon and unleashed a flurry of light arrows upon them, deleting a good deal of them and absorbing their data. The surge of data still didn't seem to bring any visible emotion to the 'mon. The creature was more emotionless than Hyogamon, who was at best cold or extreme in his temperament. Speaking of Hyogamon…

"You no longer seem so sure of yourself, fire-starter."

Grinning defiantly, Meramon raised both his arms into a fighting stance, while puffing heavily.

"What are you talking about, I'm doing fine. I just glad to finally have something to challenge me."

"Really? Because to me you're barely any more threatening than a Numemon."

About half of the people and Digimon present stopped what they were doing to look their way, especially at Meramon, who was darkening with rage. Being called pathetic or weak is a typical insult, one that any person could brush off. But for one Digimon to compare another with a Numemon, that's a call for blood.

"Take that back, unless you want your card to end up inside a WaruMonzaemon's backside."

Not at all affected, Hyogamon countered, his expression blank as usual.

"Still be in better hands than a no account, fleshy reliant 'anomaly' like yourself."

No one but the Sorcermon seemed to pick up on the anomaly comment, though they continued to fight Icemon and SnowGoblimon for the moment.

As the two engaged each other once more, Dmitri sighed out of weariness. Hoping that Asami was having better luck than him, Dmitri briefly focused on how DinoHyumon's battle was going. It was definitely something to witness, if simply for the interactions between Asami and Reiko, who had again chosen to fight Seadramon.

* * *

><p>"Reiko, quit getting in our way. There are literally hundreds of other targets for you to engage, so leave Seadramon to me and DinoHyumon!"<p>

"Why should you get to claim something as big as Seadramon? You're just afraid that I'll delete him before your partner even gets the chance to land a blow, aren't you? Well to bad, Ass-ami, first come first serve."

Not even wanting to bring up the point that both she and DinoHyumon were the 'first come' in this case, Asami fumed silently and supplied DinoHyumon with his Crabmon card.

**Digi-Modify: Crabmon Activate!**

Bringing his Ronin blade behind him, DinoHyumon charged forward, and jumping up over another sweep of Seadramon's tail, slashed his blade at seemingly nothing about 10 feet away from the beast's face.

"**Scissor Magic!**"

Three energy crescents rushed at Seadramon's face. All of them struck the Digimon's face, causing him to howl in anger and power up another attack.

"Asami honey, please tell your overgrown lizard to get out of Seasarmon's way; not very sportsman-like of you."

Speaking for himself, DinoHyumon grunted back as he leaped over Seadramon's tail that he had thrashed towards him.

"If you want your 'pet' to score a hit, then you should work for it. I'm not pausing to let you 'score points', brat!"

Stomping her foot repeatedly and pouting, Reiko whined to a nearby Sorcermon, who was engaging an Icemon.

"She's being mean to me. Make her play fair."

Seeming to ignore the 'Tamer Queen's' request, the Sorcermon still turned to Asami after fending off an attack. Its cold eyes unnerved Asami a bit as it spoke.

"You don't seem to be inputting responses into your partner. How exactly are you causing it to speak?"

"Uh, I'm not. He just talks on his own. Isn't that normal? I mean, your speaking freely."

Shaking his head, the Sorcermon pointed at Reiko's Seasarmon, who was currently attacking Seadramon head on.

"Sun's Courage."

Lacking the enthusiasm or volume of DinoHyumon, Meramon, or Maul, Seasarmon launched five orange energy arrows at Seadramon. The feral Digimon blocked two of the arrows with his tail, but the other three continued on and struck his belly, setting the parts they his aflame as they did. Seadramon cried out in pain, while Reiko squealed like a little child. Seasarmon was all together unresponsive to this all, as if it had nothing to do with what just happened. Sorcermon spoke again.

"Outside of calling out attacks, Digimon are not meant to speak unless a Tamer, likely the more…devoted individuals, inputs phrases or dialogue into their Digimon's temporary data using their D-Arcs. Even my lines are delivered by a MAGAMI Administrator at their Headquarters. Your Digimon on the other hand-"

The Sorcermon pointed his staff at DinoHyumon's back, who was busy dodging Seadramon's Ice Blasts. Asami's eyes lit up as she realized what the Elder was doing.

"-appears to be suffering from an anomaly. He shouts all his attacks, appears to have a very aggressive attitude, to the point that he is unpleasant to players. I'm afraid I'm going to have to delete him."

"DinoHyumon, look out!"

"Crystal Barrage."

As quietly as Seasarmon had been, Sorcermon launched multiple ice shards at DinoHyumon with little fanfare. The lizard man had only just noticed that he was being targeted, and didn't have proper time to mount a defense as seven jagged pieces of ice embedded themselves into his back.

"DinoHyumon! Leave him alone, he hasn't done anything wrong!"

The Sorcermon stared blankly at Asami, cocking its head to one side in confusion.

"I'm afraid the safety guidelines of the game require me to eliminate all anomalies that I come across. When you are logged off, expect to have MAGAMI security come by to discern how your Digimon became rampant."

"Oh, so I seem rampant, do I?"

Looking back at his target, Sorcermon found that DinoHyumon had appeared directly in front of his face. Kneeing the wizard elder in the stomach, DinoHyumon sheathed his Ronin Blade and brought back out his butcher knives.

"**Lizard Dance!**"

Unleashing a fury of cuts and slashes, DinoHyumon assaulted the Popsicle Town elder with little hesitation. Asami looked on in shock, but before DinoHyumon could land a final blow in his combo, a blizzard suddenly sprung to life between him and his target.

"Ice Illusion."

As the snow storm cleared, the two could see that two other Sorcermon had rescued their comrade, and had used some of the blizzard to create a small tornado to bring him over to them.

"Well now they're definitely not going to listen."

"What was I supposed to do, let him continue to attack me while you try 'reasoning' with him?"

"It worked for Shin."

Thinking back, the two suddenly realized that their Elecmon ally was nowhere to be seen, despite having chosen to accompany them to deal with the Icemon earlier.

"Where the hell is he, by the way?"

"I think we have other things to worry about that wayward Elecmon, _mistress_."

Proving his point, the three elders were all now pointing their staffs at both DinoHyumon and Asami. Reiko had briefly halted Seasarmon's battle with Seadramon to watch what was going on, with a look that showed she was clearly thinking of what to do in this situation.

"Crystal Barrage."

A fierce looking volley of arrows soared towards the two. Not wanting a repeat of just a moment ago, and not desiring to find out what having icicles lodged in one's digital avatar felt like, Asami quickly slashed a card through her D-Arc.

**Digi-Modify: Aero Wings Activate!**

Grabbing Asami the moment he felt the wings spring out of his back, DinoHyumon took to the air. It was a good thing too, because Seadramon was growing rather tired of being ignored, and had chosen to attack the spot the two were previously standing at.

"**Ice Blast!**"

Seeing that their best chance of survival was to be as aggressive as possible, Asami wasted no time slashing another card through, and a smile came to DinoHyumon's face as he recognized the power.

**Digi-Modify: ShimaUnimon Activate!**

"**Mirage Blaster! Mirage Blaster! Hah!**"

Launching two volleys of energy blasts at the Sorcermon below, DinoHyumon smirked as he saw them scatter out of the way. Most of them anyway, as one took a direct hit from the attack and disappeared. Once he did, however, no data flowed to DinoHyumon like it would normally. His smirk faded after realizing this.

"What madness is this? Why aren't you getting a card or me anymore power?"

One of the elders, dusting himself off from his dodge attempt, chose to answer.

"Players are forbidden from engaging Elders, and doing so successfully will not earn them any in-game bonuses. Instead-"

He paused, and looked directly at Reiko while speaking, while his counterpart faced Dmitri and got his attention.

"-They will have made themselves targets to be ejected from the game. This can either be done by other Elders, or players who desire a bonus."

Dmitri caught on to what the Sorcermon was suggesting, and was against it himself. Reiko and Meramon had other ideas.

"Did he just put a hit out on you two?"

"Sounds fine by me. **Fireball!**"

DinoHyumon had to veer out of the way of Meramon's attack, and both he and Asami fixed Dmitri a dirty glare. Dmitri looked shocked and angry by his partner's aggressive act.

"What the hell Dmitri! I'd expect that from the new girl, but not you! Call your partner off!"

"I didn't tell him to do that."

"Hah, that's funny- CALL HIM OFF!"

"Well maybe he's having control problems-"

DinoHyumon sensed someone unwanted behind them, and spun around mid-air to find Seasarmon leaping towards them, with some familiar orange orbs forming a circle in front of him.

"But I'm not. Seasarmon?"

"Sun's Courage."

The Shishi Digimon launched his solar arrows at the two. DinoHyumon turned back around so as to take the brunt of the attack, saving Asami from getting damaged. The fire started to burn his wings, and the Digimon below them didn't seem like he'd be sparing them of more flames.

"**Fireba-**"

"Meramon, stop it!"

Meramon turned mid swing to sheepishly face Dmitri, who was looking a little bit livid.

"What the hell is your malfunction? At what point did I seem to suggest that I'd be okay with you attacking Asami or her partner?"

"But earlier DinoHyumon was-"

"I don't care, you don't attack our friends! Do understand me?"

Before the shamed fire Digimon could answer, a wintery force knocked him into one of the burning huts near the town hall. DinoHyumon had to tuck Asami under him and roll out of the way, so as to not get caught in the blast. Dmitri followed the attack back to his source, and saw an irritated Hyogamon with his arm still outstretched.

"If the human puppets see fit to delete you traitor Digimon, that's fine. But your fight is with me."

The human puppets in question began to focus on Dmitri now, having noticed something undesirable about him as well. Two of them aimed at where Meramon had landed, and their staffs began to glow.

"Crystal Barrage."

Surprised by the sudden attacks, Meramon raised his arms to block as many of ice shurikans, knives and other assorted ice-created weapons that were flying towards him. Hyogamon took this opportunity to again attack the distracted Champion, rushing him and raising his ice mace high.

"**Ice Cudgel!**"

The spiky ice mace collided harshly with Meramon's head, sending the poor 'mon flying. Dmitri turned his fury upon the Sorcermon, as Hyogamon ignored the ice attacks that began to then pelt his hide.

"What the hell, we are on your side? What has gotten into you guys?"

"Player Dmitri, your Digimon is an illegal anomaly. Most unsettling, having two players in the same village and that have conversed with one another using illegal game characters. Such behavioral modifications are dangerous to have in an A.I., and your virus partners shall be deleted. You will then be questioned as to how you obtained or made such a program. Resistance shall bring about harsher consequences than already required."

"Excuse me? Meramon's a Data-type, you idiots, and so is DinoHyumon, so what do you mean our Digimon are anomalies? What kind of 'behavioral modifications' are you going on about?"

"Furthermore-" continued another Sorcermon, ignoring Dmitri as he let out a blast of ice from his staff, without calling out an attack. Dmitri instinctively rolled out of the way, and saw that the blast had nearly struck his D-Arc.

"-we have detected that your key pass and in-game Digivice have been tampered with, and are currently illegally copying data pertaining to this game, including the schematics of the game's Virtual Reality engine. This is a much more serious offense."

Dmitri's eyes widened as he realized that he'd been figured out, and only on his second day. _Well there goes my reputation. The other hackers will never let me live this down. That, and if I don't sign off immediately, I can expect some serious jail time. MAGAMI lawyers aren't known for their lenience in these matters._

"**Lizard Dance!**"

DinoHyumon had taken the opportunity to attack the distracted Sorcermon, cutting him to ribbons in a matter of seconds. Again, no data was retrievable for DinoHyumon once that was over. The lizard man saw Meramon struggle afar upon seeing DinoHyumon appear so close to Dmitri, and put his tamer's fears to rest.

"Apparently, they don't seem to be any fonder of you than they are of us. So if you don't feel like attacking us again, how about we all get out of here before things get ugly?"

Dmitri looked to Asami, who DinoHyumon had set down behind a building after landing. She nodded in confirmation, and the young man thought of what to do next.

_All right, so how about a recap. It's only my second day, and I'm already found out and wanted by MAGAMI officials. Not only me, but now a new friend of mine are in some serious trouble for something we didn't even consciously do. What exactly can we do? Ignoring DinoHyumon's suggestion, there is literally nowhere we can go. This is just a VR, and even if we outrun the in-game patrols, they've likely already sent the officials they got waiting in the hotel to come find me in the VR machine. Our best bet is to…_

His thoughts were cut short by his partner crashing in front of the three of them, ice shards and dimmed flames all over his body. Asami and DinoHyumon instinctively reached over to check him, while Dmitri stood back in shock. Focusing more on who could have done this to him, he turned to see that Hyogamon was busy backing into them unknowingly, as the Sorcermon Elders barraged him with 'Crystal Barrage' attacks.

DinoHyumon brought his attention to the nearing Hyogamon, and brought out Akinakes, his Ronin Blade having final run out of time, and put it in a defensive pose as he spoke to the Orgemon Boss.

"Looks like you got yourself a lot to deal with. We'll just leave you to it then."

Hyogamon turned his head slightly to fix DinoHyumon a cold glare, and the two of them failed to notice a white and gold dog Digimon bared down on them and proceed to leap into the air. Asami rose her head up from inspecting Meramon (as best as she could) when she heard a cocky voice she had grown to dislike.

"You're not going anywhere, cheaters. Seasarmon?"

"Complying."

DinoHyumon and Hyogamon looked up, and the lizard man gave the shishi a bemused look.

"I'm ready for you pup this time, girl. What exactly do you expect him to do?"

Seemingly having more concern for Asami then her own partner, Meramon sat up and knocked her away, as he seemed to sense what was about to happen next.

"Sekkantou."

Despite the lack of enthusiasm the Digimon put into calling out its attack, the effects were enough cause to worry for Meramon, Hyogamon, and DinoHyumon. A strange looking energy wall erected itself all around the three. When Meramon, feeling a bit better, tried to run through it, he was bounced back painfully into Hyogamon. Shrugging his former opponent off, the ogre like Digimon attempted to free himself.

"**Snow Punch!**"

"Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Reiko's teasing remark had weight behind it. The minute Hyogamon's attack struck the energy wall; an arc of orange energy struck back and knocked the ogre on his back. Meramon jumped out of the way as his opponent landed like a falling rock.

"Well that went as well as expected."

"Shut up!"

"Hey, you brought this about with your 'anomaly' crap! What the hell was that about?"

"I can answer that."

The three trapped Digimon, Asami and Dmitri turned to look at a Sorcermon, who had a screen pop up next to his head showing some guy with a headset, in some sort of communications room.

"Dmitri Durov, right? From St. Petersburg, Russia I believe? The supposed 'Scarlet Hacker', given the name because of how badly damaged you leave whatever systems you enter, and because of the injuries you inflict on any real person who gets in your way."

Dmitri's eyes widened as he realized his cover was blown much worse than he had thought. The speaker smiled upon seeing his reaction, and continued.

"I'm just Justin by the way. Little old Justin, no fancy name or title for me. Oh, and to answer your rampant Meramon's question, anomalies are Digimon such as it that are extremely aggressive and have the illusion of independence with their acts of disobedience and violence. They're also notorious for selling each other out to our avatars, 'the Elders', so as to attempt to get off on their inevitable deletion. But see, Dmitri, we have a problem. Or rather you do, if you don't delete all that you've collected and turn yourself in nice and quietly. Let the Sorcermon log you off, and we'll see if we can come to some sort of understanding."

"And by logging off, you mean?"

"Well he'll delete your anomaly partner, of course."

Behind the energy barrier, both Meramon and DinoHyumon growled as they heard this.

"Like hell I'll let that happen."

Shaking his head, Justin sighed.

"Really, I just don't understand why all you hackers have to go and make such unruly programs. What's so wrong with having a quiet little Digimon that does exactly what it's told? This reminds me-"

He turned his attention to Reiko, who seemed to already know what he was going to say and was smiling gleefully.

"MAGAMI Entertainment will happily boost your partner's power up to Ultimate-level for free. Once you eliminate that hacker's cheap Digimon."

"Gladly. Sorry D., but I don't like cheaters. Seasarmon?"

"Complying."

All three of the trapped Digimon recognized the move as Seasarmon leapt into the air. Shoving the other two occupants in front of him, Hyogamon hoped to have his 'cell mates' absorb the brunt of the attack.

"You dirty bast-"

"Sun's Courage."

Striking the front two targets with a barrage of light arrows, DinoHyumon and Meramon howled out in pain. Not about to leave her partner to be deleted, Asami slashed two cards.

**Digi-Modify: Power Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Stamina Activate!**

Looking much better, DinoHyumon proceeded to block as many of the arrows fired that his new found strength could. Seeing his ally's efforts were concentrated on stopping the arrows, Meramon started attacking the energy barrier.

"**Magma Blast! Magma Blast!**"

Summoning multiple molten rocks, Meramon launched them all at the cage that was leaving them at the mercy of Seasarmon. Though it didn't seem to cause the barrier to cave, no energy arced towards Hyogamon in response

"I'm not just gonna stand here and watch as some scrub tries to delete my Digimon!"

Clearly having had enough, Dmitri brought out what he considered his ace card, and ran it through his D-Arc.

**Digi-Modify: Starmon Activate!**

The sky began to darken around the entire village, even in the dead of night, and suddenly it cleared up of any smoke caused by the burning city. All the combatants and random A.I.'s could see the stars, especially the ones that were seemingly coming closer.

Meramon sparked fiercely, with Hyogamon backing away in visible worry.

"**Meteor Shower!**"

Surpassing any 'Sun's Courage' attack that Seasarmon could have mustered, multiple fireballs rained down on him, and quite a few Sorcermon. The strikes to Seasarmon were enough to release whatever hold he had on the energy wall keeping them boxed in, and Justin's Sorcermon was badly damaged by the attack.

"Ugh, damn. I didn't know he had such a high-level card, for a File Island player. Getting rid of Durov is going to be harder than I thought."

Seeing that most of the surviving Elder's Council were too heavily damaged to safely continue battling, he had all their eyes go blue for a moment, as he input retreat commands into them. He then had his personal avatar address Dmitri once more.

"You do realize how ridiculous this is, right? The minute to log off, either because of us or those wild anomalies, your but is ours. Both of you."

With that, the Sorcermon returned to 'normal', and he and his fellow Elders simply retreated from the battlefield. Leaving only Hyogamon, Reiko and Seasarmon, Seadramon, and a whole lot of Icemon and SnowGoblimon left for Asami and Dmitri to duel with.

"Dmitri, use your Flymon card and let's get out of here."

"In a second, we have something to settle first."

Looking to Meramon, who nodded in agreement, they both turned to face a weakened Hyogamon, who didn't look as sure of himself as he had before.

"We don't have time for you to settle your battle! Stop acting like a little boy and think."

"I am thinking. You heard what the admin said. We literally have nowhere to run, realistically. At least I can finish this up before we're ejected."

Realizing that he had a point, Asami prepared DinoHyumon with two cards she's rarely used, in hopes that they can at least clear enough enemies between them and the gate out of the town.

**Digi-Modify: Stamina Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Training Grips Activate!**

Weighted gloves and boots appeared on DinoHyumon, and he groaned slightly at the weird combo he had been dealt.

"Quiet, this will work. Trust me."

Snorting but keeping any comments he had to himself, DinoHyumon readied himself and went back to back with Meramon. At least for a few seconds before the fire giant charged down Hyogamon.

"**Fireball!**"

"**Snow Punch!**"

Unlike the last few times that both attacks were launched at each other, the fireball overpowered the frosty gale and continued on to its intended target. Hyogamon felt the air leave his lungs as it became his turn to be sent flying, right into a group of his SnowGoblimon underlings.

"Huh…huh. This…isn't happening. Not to me."

"Actually, it really is happening. **Magma…**"

"Seadramon! I need your help!"

"**Ice Blast!**"

Meramon turned around and saw a stream of ice headed his way. Closing his eyes as he braced himself for the attack, he soon realized that it hadn't yet struck him. DinoHyumon had intercepted the attack, looking mightily pissed afterwards.

"Hyogamon, weren't you the one earlier complaining about weakness? Why'd you need another 'mon's help?"

"My exact words were 'any Digimon that fail in my midst are exterminated'. There are no rules forbidding one from assisting their boss."

The SnowGoblimon looked at their leader, surprised by the hypocritical words coming out of his mouth. Hyogamon began to notice his 'mon moving away from him, and he roared at the retreating Digimon in anger.

"Where do you all think you're going? You have a problem with what I just said? You know how our gang works, what your place is!"

Meramon wasn't going to wait for him to finish scolding his gang.

"**Meteor Shower!**"

Using what power he had left of the Starmon card, Meramon once again called down cosmic fireballs to assault his target, this time the sole Hyogamon. The ice troll abruptly ended his tirade to try and lessen the damage he would receive. For all the good it would do him.

"**Snow Punch! Snow Punch!**"

The wintery blasts just bounced off the meteors, and each one found their mark on Hyogamon. Barely able to keep on his feet, the ice troll looked up as Meramon strode up to him, placed his fist an inch away from his face, and then drew it back.

"**Fireball.**"

The attack blew Hyogamon's head clean off, before the rest of the body was reduced to body. What happened next surprised all Tamers and 'anomaly' Digimon present. A blue object, small and not of any recognizable design rose out of the data that was once Hyogamon, and after Meramon had finished absorbing the Digimon's data, flew into him. At the same time, a regular looking card, which seemed to be a bit damaged, flew to Asami with Gururumon's visage on it. Along side that, a green card with Hyogamon's image flew towards Dmitri, as he D-Arc cried out.

**First Orgemon Brothers Boss defeated. First Key rewarded. Congratulations.**

Dmitri stared at the card for a moment, flipping it over and checking both sides. Looking to Meramon, who signaled that he was fine, the boy spoke to Asami.

"Asami, what do you make of this?"

"Be with you in a second. DinoHyumon?"

"Got it."

As the time ran out for both the Stamina and Training Grips cards, DinoHyumon flexed and showed off his massively increased muscles, intimidating the remaining lackeys. Save for Seadramon, Reiko and Seasarmon.

"Let us go, and you get to keep from being added to my collection."

Reiko stuck out her tongue and pulled the bottom lid of her eye.

"In your dreams. Seasarmon, take him!"

"Complying."

Seadramon just roared.

"**Rah, Ice Blast!**"

_Gata Gata Gata Ga!_

DinoHyumon didn't so much as dodge the attack, rather he simply did not appear there when it landed. He had instead found his way yet again in front of his enemy's face, butcher knives drawn.

_Gata Gata Gata Ga!_

"**Lizard Dance!**"

Slashing multiple cuts across the sea monster's face, DinoHyumon found himself suddenly coiled up and trapped in Seadramon's tail.

"I…have…you!"

"So, you can speak. Then listen to this!"

Bring his elbow down hard on the monster's tail, DinoHyumon heard the crack as he definitely broke some of the creature's bones, forcing him to let him go. Wasting no time, he drew his giant blade and brought it to one side.

"**Akinakes: Iai Blow!**"

Reappearing suddenly on the other side of Seadramon, DinoHyumon had confused most of the viewers of what exactly had he done. It became clear to all when Seadramon's body suddenly split in half, then disappeared into a data cloud that DinoHyumon was absorbing.

"Heh, guess you can say I cut him…like an onion."

Dmitri and Meramon sweatdropped at the corny reference to the Digimon anime, and Asami ran up and knocked her partner on the head for thinking to say that. Reiko on the other hand, was looking a little worried, as did the Icemon and SnowGoblimon.

Asami noticed this, and turned her attention towards her.

"Still want to tussle with us?"

Before the girl could answer, her Seasarmon had begun to carry out her last request and started running for DinoHyumon.

"Sekkan-"

"**Magma Blast!**"

Interrupting the shishi's attack, Meramon struck the Digimon with molten rocks, sending it crashing down before his Tamer. Dmitri saw that the Icemon and SnowGoblimon were looking more confident again, and even saw some other nearby Tamers pointing and talking about them, and the look in their eyes wasn't exactly friendly.

"Asami, we should probably go. Like now!"

"Oh, now you want to go!"

Not wasting anymore time bickering, the two used yet another weak code stored away, and slide their respective flight cards.

**Digi-Modify: Flymon Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Aero Wings Activate!**

Grabbing a hold of their partners, Meramon trying to lessen the flames around the hand Dmitri was holding onto, the four took off out of the village as their enemies grew in number, and attacks were called out with their names on them.

"**Bolt Strike!**"

"**Iceball Bomb!**'

"Sun's Courage."

Hiding behind some rubble and burned buildings, two familiar cat like creatures watched the four fly away. One of the two made off over one of the walls surrounding the town, and was soon followed by his reluctant other.

* * *

><p>The two travelers' journey was almost to an end, with the town being visible now as the Elecmon began his tale.<p>

"So here's the story, at least how I was told it. Not to long ago, really just a few years ago in your time, a group of scientists were working at a think-tank. They were trying to create a working Virtual Reality machine, one that a person could become completely immersed in, and act out their fantasy. To get funding for this project, they approached pharmaceutical companies with the idea of using this machine to connect families to coma patients via a link with their minds. Loved ones could visit their injured family members and actually converse with them, in whatever setting they desired."

"I remember hearing about that. Didn't it end up being canceled?"

"Yes it did. The reason why was never fully revealed to the public, and even most Digimon don't know why this came to be, but thankfully, the group of six scientists chose a different route. Unfortunately, I also can't say exactly how they managed to do this, but the Six figured out in their experiments how to create artificial life. That life being us, Digimon. Sadly, we were restricted to data form in high-powered computers and machines that can sustain our amounts of data, but from what I have learnt, the Six and the Original Digimon had a disagreement. Since the Six were responsible for creating them, they felt that Digimon were to be subservient to them in all things. The Digimon did not take kindly to this, and in the best way we knew how, we rebelled."

"How exactly did you do that if you were stuck in computers?"

"Easy: we all acted like virus pests. Even vaccine Digimon would create falsified, incriminating documents and threaten to mail them to the authorities if the Six didn't change their attitudes."

"Did that happen? Also, a there's just a little something that was bugging me about your story. Why did the Six, whoever they are, base you guys off of a children's TV show?"

"I'll answer your second question first. Apparently, we didn't have proper forms at first, just varying levels of data and intelligence. Since our creation was secret, one of the Six suggested we model ourselves after the show, with the higher levels like Ultimate or Mega being assigned to those who had more data than others. It was like a fanfiction come true for her."

"Her?"

"From what I was told, yes it was a female member. Anyway, the Six did appear to relent, and even offered to give these wandering Digimon sprites a proper field of existence to call home. By this point, their progress into making a Virtual Reality was nearly finished, and they were already detailing their first trial run after the Digital World depicted in the anime. They had also contacted Toei to let them know that they had done so, expecting them to be pleased and/or touched that their children's show had inspired this group of scientists."

"If I recall from the MAGAMI vs. Toei trial a few years back, before the game was released, I guessing they weren't."

"Nope. Toei tried to straight up grab the Digital World away from the Six under some complicated 'Stolen Property' clause or something. As you may have figured out, one of the Six had connections with the MAGAMI Co., which supplied them with the tech they were using and was paying for most of the funds at the time. Some time into the trial both sides came to a settlement, and the Six were to be given proper recognition for their work so long as Toei was in charge of distributing the 'game', as you, Asami, and Dmitri are accustomed to calling our world."

"So I can only guess that the Six didn't feel like mentioning that the world they just gave Toei access to already had occupants in it."

"No, they didn't. It was payback for us demanding autonomy. They would later 'reveal' to Toei that in the desire to emulate the show, they had unfortunately created 'rampant anomalies, Digimon data that would act out violently and give the illusion that they were sentient'."

"So then why we allowed to play…enter your world if Toei's convinced that there are hostile Digimon roaming around?"

"Because the Six managed to somehow create Artificial Digimon, who are intelligent enough to understand and follow commands, but don't think independently or act on their own. And they convinced Toei that the VR could be presented as a game if you 'players' spent all your time attacking and deleting all Wild Digimon you come across. That's also why they modeled the game after the canceled Tamer's Season, so players concentrated more on deleting Digimon and increasing their own partner's power, instead of trying to 'save the Digital World'."

"So I've been deleting innocent Digimon from day one just to satisfy some six people's fickle revenge?"

Shin shook his head.

"The Orgemon Brothers gang is far from innocent, and from what the BlackGatomon and Mikemon told me about you guys in Popsicle Town, neither were the Unimon pack. You haven't attacked any innocent Digimon at all, though granted you only played for one and a half days. It's probably that decency that allowed you to be bonded to Maul."

Colin gave Shin a confused look.

"What?"

"I don't necessarily believe this, but some Digimon think that proper sentience was granted to Digimon by one of the Sovereigns, Baihumon. They also think that 'Destined Children', kids with good hearts are chosen from the many to by Baihumon to be partnered with real Digimon, in order to preserve our world from those who mean it harm."

"So basically some people think I'm a Digidestined. Really?"

"Who says you're a Digidestined, partner?"

Looking around, Colin suddenly realized that he had walked into an Old West-styled town absentmindedly. But the thing that had drawn him away from his conversation with Shin was the fact that someone had called him 'partner'.

"…Maul?"

"Maul? Don't know any 'mon by that name. I'm called Deputymon."

The Digimon addressing him was literally a humanoid gun with a cowboy hat, jeans, and boots. Apparently being a huge gun wasn't enough, as the Digimon had two extra pistols holstered.

"Oh…hi there."

"Hi yourself. Say, you look like a rather fit guy. Care for a game?"

Shin gave Deputymon a look, but the Digimon ignored him. A crowd of Chuchidarumon, Clockmon, Togemon, Centarumon, SandYanmamon, and JungleMojyamon came to see the newcomers, with a few of them recognizing Shin and waving to him. Colin, remembering Shin's warning earlier, took a back step as he replied.

"What kind of game?"

"Oh, just a little round of Town **Russian Roulette!**"

Surprised that the game featured what appeared to be one of Deputymon's attacks, Colin made the mistake of actually grabbing the pistol that was tossed to him. Shin sweatdropped as Deputymon instantly took that as an 'okay' to start.

"**Russian Roulette!**"

Colin's heart skipped a beat as he heard the bang erupt from the gun. Checking himself all over, he found that he wasn't hit at all, and then saw a good deal of the crowd laughing at his reactions. Angry, he took his on pistol and aimed it at the Digimon.

*Click*

Nothing happened. Deputymon laughed himself this time.

"You have to say the attack if you want it to work."

"Is that so?" asked Colin, not at all amused.

"Colin, just put down the gun, you don't have to play."

Shin was promptly ignored, as both players raised their guns again and shouted the attack.

"**Russian Roulette!**"

Again, nothing happened. Before the two could try again, Deputymon was suddenly placed in a rough headlock by a human sized silver-star.

"Sheriff, I'm kinda busy at the mo- gack!"

"Deputymon, I have told you again and again not to haze new comers. Have I not?"

"Well yes, but come on, just this once can I-"

"**Russian Roulette!**"

Colin didn't wait for Starmon to let go of Deputymon, and actually managed to fire a shot off at the Digimon. It flew into his nozzle, and sent the Digimon flying out of Starmon's grasp and onto his backside a few feet away. Colin walked over to him and dropped his pistol on his chest.

"Don't play with me today; I am not in the mood."

Looking into the boy's eyes, he nodded and reached out his hand. Colin took it and helped him up. The two shook, with Deputymon sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"I didn't mean nothing by it. Just wanted to have some fun, is all."

"I warned you about your type of 'fun' before, deputy."

Turning to lock eyes with Starmon, Colin addressed him.

"I take it you're the Starmon Shin was talking about."

"I'm right here Colin, you could just wait for me to say so."

Smiling, Starmon nodded and introduced himself.

"Right, sorry we didn't get to greet each other proper like. My name is Starmon, and Shin's told me about your problem. You want to bring your partner back."

"Yeah."

"Okay, follow me then."

Shin and Colin followed Starmon, who was dragging Deputymon along with them, to the biggest building in town, the Alluring Lilymon Saloon. Inside a group of Palamon was dancing on stage, with various male Digimon cheering away. Starmon led his group down a flight of stairs behind the bar, where they were greeted to the site of some kind of lab. Near the sole window down there was some kind of altar, with a hole carved into it that looked like it could perfectly fit a D-Arc.

"So, Colin is it? You must really care about your partner to do all that you're doing right now."

"He died on my watch, trying to help me. I owe him for that."

Starmon shared a look with Shin, who sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"I see you're not completely buying our story. I'm sure Shin's already given you some version of the story on how us talkative Digimon came into being, so I won't waste anytime trying to convince you further. Whatever your reason, I'm just glad you agreed to this. Having a Digimon's partner not be here for the ceremony usually breaks the 'mon's will to live."

This disturbed Colin a little, understandably.

"You mean you've had to bring back other people's partners before? Not just other…free-willed Digimon? Why didn't they come?"

"Multiple reasons, usually the main one that likely almost kept you from coming. They find this all to be too ridiculous. Anyway, let's get this started."

Directing Colin to the altar, Starmon pointed at the hole.

"Place your D-Arc here, please."

Doing so, Starmon then went over to some the computers on the other side of the basement. Turning them on, he activated some scanners over the altar than buzzed to life. They ran a beam over the D-Arc, and Kumamon's data appeared on the screens of the computers. Starmon then went about fixing whatever corruptions he found and replacing any basic lost data. Satisfied that he had done enough, he turned to the other occupants of the basement, and threw down a switch. Silver data flooded the D-Arc, and a Digimon began to form from it. Colin looked on, with a faint smile on his face, as a familiar cat head with an 'M' birthmark and tail was properly formed. The Digimon opened his eyes, and initially seemed frightened at its unfamiliar surrounding. It then recognized Shin, who nodded his head to someone behind Wanyamon. Turning around, he saw his Tamer smiling warmly at him, and sprang onto his chest.

"Colin! Hey partner, where have you been?"

The boy remained silent as he happily hugged the lively furball, not at all sure what to do next. It seemed that answer would come from unwanted company.

"Starmon!"

Another Deputymon burst into the basement, this one having a blue scarf on as opposed to the first's red one. Starmon stomped his foot in frustration.

"Dang nambit, son! Didn't I tell you not to you not to bother me when I'm restoring 'mon? These two are trying to have a happy moment."

"I'm sorry sir, but one of our Biyomon's just reported in. They say that Popsicle Town has fallen to the Icemon and SnowGoblimon."

All of the room went silent. Elecmon clenched his teeth in anger, and Starmon became more serious.

"Where any of ours in the town?"

"Some Frigimon, some hiding Ikkakumon, and many others. I think the Gatomon couple might have gotten out, but there's no word yet."

Colin's thoughts were immediately focused on his friends.

"So Popsicle Town has fallen to Hyogamon…"

"Actually boss, I hear a Meramon partner Digimon took him out. That's why I only mentioned the SnowGoblimon and not him."

Colin and even Shin looked pleased at this, and had a pretty good idea who that Meramon's partner was. This brightened their moods greatly.

"But I'm afraid that's where the good news ends boss."

"I take it there is still some bad news."

"…Fugamon and his group are headed here."

The room was quiet again, before Starmon started barking orders.

"Well what are you standing here for? Alert the town! Tell all the Digimon with homes out of town to get back there, and have the locals ready for combat in the next hour!"

Shin went over to his friend.

"I'll help with that."

"I can't ask you to do this, Shin."

"Then it's a good thing I'm volunteering."

"We'll help too."

The two looked to see Wanyamon bouncing up and down on the altar. Colin's eyes widened and he snatched the little guy up.

"Wait a second, you were just revived! You can't just go off and…"

Wanyamon started to glow, and recognizing the light Colin let go.

Wanyamon…digivolve to…**Kumamon!**

Adjusting his cap, Maul turned to his partner with a cocky grin on his face.

"Hey, we still have some things to settle with those Orgemon Brothers, remember? That can't wait for me to get my nails done. We got to knock out those punks as they come."

Colin continued to look concerned for a moment, but then a smile crept onto his face.

"You crazy bear. Fine then, let's go."

Shin bared the way as the cub tried to pass, and looked the Rookie dead in the eye.

"I'm not as easily persuaded. You should be resting. Leave this fight to us."

"Ah come on, Shin, let me-"

"Kumamon, listen to me. You want to get back at them for deleting you, that's natural. But you and Colin are staying here till this situation is controlled, or at least I'm sure you're ready to start fighting again."

"Since when did you get to say when we do and don't fight?"

Staring at the boy, Shin started to glow as well.

Elecmon…digivolve to…**Leomon! RAWR!**

Towering over both of them, Shin spoke in a firm, but kind voice.

"You. Are. Staying. Here."

He then turned to leave, Starmon following behind him with the blue scarf Deputymon. Colin tried to follow as well, but his way was barred by the red scarf Deputymon, who had both his pistols drawn.

"Sorry, but when Leomon tells someone to do something, it's best to do. Trust me; you'll live longer and happier that way."

Having had enough of people telling him what to do, Colin reached to his mounted D-Arc, only to find that is wasn't there.

_Right, it's on the altar. Better grab it, and then take out Deputymon._

Turing towards the altar, Colin saw that his digivice was no longer there. Feeling both sides of his pants, he realized that his deck of cards was missing as well.

"…that bastard's quick."

* * *

><p>Entrance to Bootsector Forest

Having made it to Download Plains, the four fugitives landed at the edge of Bootsector Forest. Dismounting off the back of a tired DinoHyumon, Asami moved to catch the weary Digimon as he reverted back to his Rookie form. Dmitri let go of Meramon's hand and nursed his arms, as he had been hanging onto the Digimon for dear life during the entire flight. Meramon also de-digivolved back to Candlemon, looking like he could hibernate for a week. Silence reigned between them, until Dmitri tired to break the awkward silence.

"Well, that happened."

"Yeah. Speaking of which-"

Dmitri caught a swing from an angry Asami, but took a full blow to the gut and found himself being flipped over the very next second. Candlemon was too tired to do anything, so he just hissed his dislike.

"-you're a fucking hacker? What, you and Colin couldn't just play the game like normal people, you had to go and mess with our Digimon and get the admins down on your asses, as well as mine?"

"Whoa whoa, wait a second. Firstly, ow, that freaking hurts. Second, yes I'm a hacker, but I didn't do squat to any of our Digimon. I got mine the same way everyone else did. And third, Colin isn't in on this. I told you he got kicked because Kumamon was deleted."

Having apparently not heard Dmitri the first time he said this, both Kotemon and Candlemon were visibly saddened by this bit of news. Asami still glared down at the boy.

"But then why the hell are the game admins after us, or at least me. You apparently have been downloading their shit, so it's clear why their not happy with you."

"Yeah, well I doubt anyone's going to be very 'happy with them' once they see what MAGAMI has hidden behind the base code of the game."

"What?"

After getting back on his feet (and being sure to take a few steps out of Asami's reach), Dmitri went through his D-Arc for a while before a pop-up screen emerged in the air, displaying the information he had gotten so far.

He brought up in more clarity some sort of three pronged device, which kind of looked like a gun. A video underneath the picture was turned on, which appeared to show real life footage of unknown men testing the device on an assault drone. The device glowed red as someone held and aimed it at the drone, and a few seconds later the thing crashed only a few feet away from the man. Asami's eyes grew wide as she realized what she was looking at.

"Is that a-"

"EMP gun, yeah. By the looks of it, and from the information I've been able to translate, though most of it is in Japanese, it can take out at least all the electronics in a two-story building, or corrupt them in some way. I don't quite understand a few of these words."

"What's that next thing?"

"This I didn't even get a good look at earlier, cause of Reiko."

Asami soured upon hearing that name.

Retracting the previous screen and bringing up another, the D-Arc now showed a six-wheeled vehicle. It had an opening on top of it like a tank, as well as some cannons on the front and back of it. Some of the ordinance resembled the EMP gun, but the weirdest features were the painted on eyes. For a military weapon, it was an odd choice. The text next to image was all in Japanese, and unfortunately for the two, the video showing what this thing could possibly do didn't manage to get downloaded before Dmitri had to stop. But the text caused Asami's eyebrow to raise as she read it mentally.

"What, what does it say?"

"…that this is to be used to send Digimon into the real world, as an invasion force."

"Hah, funny. Seriously, what does it say?"

"I am not shitting you, that is what is says."

Silence reigned again amongst the four. They didn't seem to notice that they were being watched by two sets of yellow, feline eyes, being too tired and shocked by what they've discovered to pay attention to their surroundings.

"Dmitri, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"

* * *

><p>Sorry about the wait, a lot of sad things have happened around the time I was working on this chapter. This ends the Ice Arc, next comes the Desert Arc. Hope to keep you interested. Ciao!<p> 


	10. Chapter 10: Mad Wind

07/16/2012

Disclaimer: If I owned Toei, would I be writing stories here? Come on now.

FanAuthor's Note: Let's see how long it takes to get this chapter out. Place your bets, people who will only see this when it's actually posted (this entire note is pointless, now I feel silly).

Also, I would like to thanks those who have so far reviewed the last few chapters, as it helps me know what to work on, and what you guys like so far.

Chapter 10: Mad Wind

* * *

><p>Hyperlink Town

Leomon emerged from the Saloon accompanied by Starmon and Blue Deputymon. Some Chuchidarumon, five Togemon and a herd of Centarumon (is that the politically correct thing to say, herd? Is it offensive to refer to a group of centaurs that way?) were still in town, and formed up alongside the three emerging from the Alluring Lilymon Saloon. Leomon spotted a JungleMojyamon speaking with a Clockmon, and when the two locked eyes the JungleMojyamon broke off his conversation and went over to greet Leomon, shaking hands with him.

"Shin, you old hairball! Seems like we can never catch break, can we?"

"Indeed. Reminds me of the time I had to convince the Centaurmon you hadn't tried to vandalize their AncientTroiamon statue."

"Yeah, they were mighty pissed about that. Forgive me for shedding, it's hot at their camp."

Leomon looked to see that the Clockmon, a hive of SandYanmamon, and a cluster of Hagurumon retreat off into the desert, the Clockmon being the only one to look back as he did. J-Mojyamon patted Leomon's shoulder, turning to face the other end of town as he did, where dust could be seen being kicked up by approaching forces.

"Hey, we can't expect all of them to fight."

"I know; I was the one who gave the order for those not residing in town to return home. It's fine, since we got an old fart like you to sort these guys out if things go south."

"You expect things to go any other way?"

"One can always hope. Besides, Fugamon is the most reasonable of the Ogremon Brothers."

The lead Centarumon and J-Mojyamon gave Leomon a concerned look.

"Reasonable? He once snapped a Shamanmon in half for eating a fruit on a Tuesday, then proceeded to torture that mon's brother for **not** doing it the next Tuesday."

"For them, being crazy makes him more reasonable. He might be convinced to not attack us."

The Centarumon snorted.

"Sure, if today was Tuesday."

Ignoring his worried companion, the lion Digimon proceeded forwards, when Starmon caught him by his arm.

"I took this off the altar before coming up. Wanted to make sure your friend doesn't act on his desire to disobey you."

He presented Colin's D-Arc, to which Leomon chuckled a little while nursing his temples.

"He's going to blame me for taking it. Like I don't already have enough things to look forward to. Oh well, those two really do need to stay where they are."

Centarumon once again spoke.

"Shouldn't we have them out here helping, especially if they want to as it is? We could use any help available, what with this being a sad little town that it is."

Leomon shot the horse man a dirty look.

"You should know very well that newborns are in no fit condition to fight, especially not Champions like Fugamon. How can you even suggest that?!"

Standing his ground and not cowering under Leomon's gaze, the head Centarumon answered.

"Revived Digimon are not newborns. They still have all the data their old lives had, or as much as could be restored. You know this as well as I. Ignoring the fact that he could easily be as strong as he was before, or even stronger due to Starmon's exceptional treatments, Kumamon has a human partner. Human partners tend to come with weapons and power-ups to supply their Digimon. That is an advantage that we'd be foolish to keep locked in a basement."

"Just as foolish as it is to push a recently revived Digimon back into action without giving them time to rest properly and be sure that they are functioning at maximum potential. And the child's name is Maul; he's chosen to be identified as such. Respect that."

Snorting once more, the head Centarumon stamped his front hoofs, clearly annoyed.

"I refuse to play this game of naming ourselves like the humans, _Leomon_. We are Digimon, fully capable of identify our own and not needing any identification outside of our species. I am a Centarumon, as powerful as any other Centarumon and proud of it; and you are a Leomon. Not Shin, or 'Simba', or 'Alley cat'. This need to emulate humans is not as popular amongst us as you think."

Resisting the urge to slightly singe the centaur, Leomon once again turned towards the outskirts of the town and proceeded to walk towards the invading force. A Togemon came up to him, speaking in a friendly voice.

"Don't mind old metal hooves there. Some of us are just stressed by our situation."

"I am as aware of our situation as you are."

"We know that, but acting more like the humans who put us in this situation isn't exactly going to win you many allies, Shin."

"But you're okay with my name?"

"It's a name, what real harm is it? Not like you went and named yourself 'Bristly MutherFuc-"

"I get the idea."

"Anyway, were you actually serious about the whole 'appeal to Fugamon' thing?"

Taking a deep breath, Leomon explained.

"Look, obviously the chances of him agreeing not to raze our town to the ground are very slim. But Centarumon has a point about the boy and Maul. They would be advantageous to getting rid of these marauders."

"So you are going to put them in play."

"Not immediately. We need to draw out the fight for as long as possible, till I'm sure they're ready to fight again."

"So basically our plan is to throw our bodies out till your 'Digidestined' is up to fighting again?"

Togemon seemed less pleased with this plan then the 'appeasing' one. Leomon shook is head to reassure him.

"No, and he's no 'Digidestined'. I don't believe in that any more than you do. But he is a Tamer, and from what I've seen of him so far he's a decent one."

"Not enough to avoid having his partner deleted by Hyogamon, from what I hear."

"He was protecting a friend when that happened. Which only goes to prove his character, and why we should allow him and Maul the time they need to actually get ready before throwing their bodies out as our sacrificial meat shield, as you would have them."

"Hey, I have no beef with your human friend. I just rather he fight with us now instead of riding in on ceremony, or not at all. I don't like the idea of relying too much on one person. If they're going to be of use, then use them, don't pamper them. That's something most of us don't get to do for our own."

Nodding, as he knew too well of what little privileges he and the other 'anomalies' could afford when constantly under attack, either by human forces or by other, violent Digimon, Leomon continued onwards, seeing that Togemon had nothing else to say.

Behind him, Starmon was chatting away with the Chuchidarumon.

"We'll need you six to cover both sides when we get up there. Want to make sure that your earth-moving powers can get them from both ends, and properly set up a wall of dirt if we need to retreat."

Nodding, the Chuchidarumon relayed the message back to his group. Starmon looked ahead, and could make out the shape of a Shamanmon seated upon the backs of four others. He was gnawing at a bone, looking rather bored. Starmon sighed as they paced on, an organized group of assorted Digimon. _Something tells me he isn't going to play nice._

* * *

><p>Bootsector Forest, 3 hours spent.

Four familiar characters cautiously strode through the dark, foul forest, with a small blue lizard and an animate candle taking the lead. The two humans were not facing each other, and the boy seemed visibly annoyed by the girl's silence.

"So we're just not going to talk to each other for the remainder of our time here?"

Asami didn't respond and just kept on walking, proving his point.

"What do you want, an apology? For what, being a hacker? Or are you still convinced that I had something to do with both of us becoming members of the game Admin.'s most wanted list?"

She still didn't speak, but raised an eyebrow as if to say 'well didn't you'? Dmitri struggled to keep from cursing out in annoyance.

"Look, for the last time. They went after **you** first, because of your faulty Digimon-"

It was Kotemon's turn to resist the urge to do something unpleasant, though his ideas were more brutal than rude.

"-and then they noticed that I was downloading their hidden дерьмо (shit), and then and only then did they come after me. You brought this about, not me."

"Asami didn't cause this. I simply spoke more than I should have in the presence of the Elders. And be careful of who you call 'faulty'."

Remembering the reaction DinoHyumon had had back at Mirror Lake to similar comments he had made then, Dmitri clammed up for a while. Candlemon shot Kotemon a dirty look, but then came to a stop and intensified the flame on his head. Kotemon similarly paused, grabbing hold of his shinai in caution. Asami stopped as well and addressed her partner.

"What's up?"

"We are being watched."

"I told you we should have found another route."

Kotemon sighed as Candlemon's irritated side came out.

"Bootsector is the quickest way away from Popsicle Town, and we had little where else to land before we de-digivolved back. You knew what to expect."

"We could easily have gone back to Mirror Lake."

"And we'd still be surrounded by hostile Digimon. At least here you're not the only with an advantage."

Dmitri cut into to the two Digimon's little spat.

"I sorry, who's watching us exactly?"

"**Posion Thread!**"

Making sure to knock their partners out of the way of a line of purple webbing, Kotemon and Candlemon dove onto Asami and Dmitri respectively and covered them as they got back up, glaring and growling at the trees surrounding them as enemy Digimon descended.

The one responsible for the web-line was a humanoid black spider Digimon, which appeared to be pulling its orange hair out in constant frustration. On its back was a large painted on skull and crossbones, like the ones found on poisonous items. A couple more Digimon like this descended from the surrounding trees, accompanied by some giant roach like Digimon, and a round red masked Digimon with a blade on it back, which was also whirling a shuriken.

"Recognize any of them, Asami?"

"The spiders are Dokugumon, the roaches are just Roachmon, and that little ninja over there is Igamon, or Ninjamon for English speakers."

"Well I usually speak Russian at home, but since we both only know English between us…"

"We'll call him Ninjamon then."

'Ninjamon' did not like being spoken about, as he unsheathed his blade and pointed it at the two.

"What are you two soft-skins doing walking in our forest?"

"Now now, Ninjamon, leave the lovely couple be. They ain't hurting nobody."

Asami blushed a little and faced away from Dmitri, arms crossed and a little annoyed at the accusation, while Dmitri just remained stoned-faced and answered bluntly.

"We are not a couple, roach."

The insect Digimon's smile faded, and his wings started buzzing menacingly as he and his two fellows descended upon them.

"That's Roachmon to you, you idiotic blood bag. I was just on your side a moment ago."

"Look, do you really want to go through with this little routine? You would attack us, we'd retaliate, and Candlemon here would turn you to cinder in about five minutes. Maybe six if we're feeling generous. But, since we're in a hurry and you all seem to have busy lives, we could forego the 'let's you and me fight' scenario and you can step aside and let us pass."

In answer, Ninjamon and some Dokugumon launched a volley of attacks.

"**Dancing Leaves!**"

"**Venom Blast!**"

"**Posion Thread!**"

A gale of razor sharp leaves surrounding a thrown shuriken; a couple of purple poisonous clouds, and multiple web lines flew towards the four travelers. This time the tamers dodged unaided, as their partners did the same but while moving towards their attackers.

"**Hot Head!**"

"**Flame Bomber!**"

The two struck back at the Digimon hiding up in the trees. Three Dokugumon avoided Candelmon's fireballs, while a fourth fell back as it caught on fire and began to flay around in pain on the forest floor. The target of Kotemon's attack was Ninjamon, who blocked the overhead strike but had to fan his arm as it caught fire. Kotemon landed near the flaying Dokugumon and bounced back over to his tamer, his shinai raised in defense as their enemies swarmed around them.

"This is going to get ugly real fast if we don't digivolve."

"Kotemon, could you just ask for us to help you, without the attitude?"

"Yes, I could."

Deciding to continue this discussion over Kotemon's attitude later, Asami ignored him and reached for her Digivolution card, with Dmitri imitating her. He saw that his card was still blacked out, something Asami didn't notice until after she swiped her card through.

**Time Remaining Until Card's Recharged: 5 minutes.**

"Oh shove it up your-"

"**Poison Thread!**"

Dmitri tackled Asami to the ground, a line of razor sharp purple webbing passing over their heads as they thudded on the ground. Asami looked up at Dmitri, annoyance visible all over her face.

"How many times today are you all going to knock me down?"

"Hey, if you want to be logged out early, I will gladly stop helping you. Though I doubt you want to deal with MAGAMI security any more than I do."

Getting back on their feet, the two saw Kotemon struggling against Ninjamon, and Candlemon being surrounded by the Dokugumon and Roachmon. Glaring at the opposing Digimon, Asami moved to help, but Dmitri held her back with one arm.

"Hey, what exactly do you plan on doing? Just use a Weak Code, and our cards will start working again."

Smacking herself on the side of her head for not thinking clearly, Asami moved her hand over to her wrist-mounted D-Arc, before noticing that one of the Dokugumon was targeting them again.

"Oh no you don't! **Poison Thread!**"

This time it was her turn to knock the 21-year-old onto the ground, smiling a little as she did so. He looked up less amused.

"Okay, how about we just call out when we see someone targeting us instead of knocking each other down?"

"Sounds like a plan."

Again, the two tried to use one their remaining Weak Codes, but a small round shadow appearing behind them had other ideas.

"**Iga Style: Sword Draw!**"

"**Thunder Kote!**"

Asami turned around to see Ninjamon appear behind Kotemon, who had suddenly dropped his shinai as slash marks appeared on his front, causing streams of data to fly up like blood.

"A rookie like you should know his place."

"Kotemon!"

Using the time Kotemon had bought them to activate one of his last Weak Codes, Dmitri blindly pulled a card from his deck.

"Candlemon, help him out!"

**Digi-Modify: Kunemon Activate!**

The Roachmon chuckled as they heard this.

"What was that you were saying earlier, about how you'd reduce us to cinder in only five minutes?"

"**Electro Thread!**"

The Roachmon and two of his companions found themselves being wrapped up by yellow webbing, which soon proceeded to electrocute them thoroughly.

"What of it? Nothing's changed since then."

Having survived the Rookie level attack, the roach Digimon glared at the offending candle. Not backing down from their gaze, he hissed back.

"You're not the only one who can shoot webbing. **Poison Thread!**"

Realizing too late that he had been paying too much attention to the Roachmon, Candlemon now found that he was wrapped in webs. These ones were purple in color, and Candlemon felt his strength ebbing away as he tried to struggle free.

"Candlemon, you have to burn yourself free!"

A Dokugumon aimed at Dmitri from its perch up in a tree.

"You keep quiet! **Poison Thread!**"

Quickly side-stepping the attack, Dmitri bit his lip a little as a line of webbing slashed his right arm.

_Why does that hurt? Is this what happened to Colin when he was fighting Hyogamon?_

* * *

><p>Basement of the Alluring Lilymon Saloon

Deputymon sat in a rocking chair, guns still pointed at his 'guests', Colin and Kumamon. Colin eyed the giant gun Digimon coldly, while Maul fidgeted about, looking all over the basement for things to do. Coming to the lab's computers in the back, Maul was about to climb on top of one of the consoles, when Deputymon started to take shots near his feet.

"Please don't go and touch anything; Starmon will just blame me for whatever you wreck."

"Well maybe Starmon and Shin shouldn't have left to annoyed fighters near their sensitive tech."

Deputymon briefly locked eyes with the irate Tamer, but turned away when his gaze started to unnerve him.

"Well see, look here. It was for your own good, you heard Leomon. No need to be unpleasant about it."

"Trust me; you haven't seen me being unpleasant just yet. Let us go, and you won't have to find out what that's like."

Maul laughed a little at the thought of Colin throwing a fit, tossing this about and throttling Deputymon Looney Tunes style.

Deputymon sweatdropped and made a mental note not to be the one left behind with people he had just ticked off with one of his 'friendly' welcoming games.

"Uh, hey Colin. You got a minute?"

"What, Lucky?"

"Um, yeah; your friends Dmitri and Asami are in a bit of a spot. Normally I would give a damn about that, but since Dmitri has something I need, I'm going to have to leave you and Shin without my _lovely_ fairy godmother advice for a while."

"What?! No, don't leave, you still have my body strapped in the chair!"

"Don't worry, no one knows where you are, and the place is a little hard to get into if you don't know what you're doing."

"You are not leaving me alone in your sketchy-ass den."

Not getting a response, Colin cursed aloud in anger.

"Oh that mother-fuc"

* * *

><p>Blistering Path

Leomon's group were well a way down the path outside of Hyperlink Town, and some of them could make out the approaching horde of Shamanmon headed their way. J-Mojyamon was the first to spot their leader.

"Leomon, Centarumon, I think I see Fugamon. Or at least the Shamanmon who can achieve that form."

Centarumon galloped up besides J-Mojyamon, his interested earned.

"Where is he?"

"The one being held up by four others on that tribal chief seat."

Having apparently better eyes than the assembled force, J-Mojyamon managed to make out a group of Shamanmon labor away to carry a rather lazy looking Shamanmon perched on a throne of bones. Leomon took the lead as the two groups started to get closer to one another.

"Centarumon, send one of your heard back to town, and give him these to take back to Colin. If my way doesn't work, then we might just need him and Maul after all."

"What's made you change your mind? It's barely been 10 minutes since we last discussed this."

"Something seems off about Shamanmon's attitude. Sure, he's insane, but he's never one to look bored when attacking others. I want Colin and Maul to be ready to escape properly if anything, but we'll just have to wait and see."

Motioning for one of his herd to come forth, Centarumon retrieved Colin's D-Arc and card deck and gave them to his messenger, relaying what Leomon had said back to him. The messenger took for town immediately, and Centarumon returned his attention to what lay in front of him.

The horde of red Goblimon cousins stopped a few feet in front of their opposing greeters. They flashed their tusks and waved their bone clubs about, until the head Shamanmon yawned and waved for them to cease, which they did immediately. Getting up, he leapt off his throne and walked to the front of his horde, scratching the back of his head as he approached. Reaching the head of his force, he stopped and spoke.

"Why are the targets coming to greet us? They don't even look scared while doing so?"

Another Shamanmon, head bowed, answered his chieftain.

"Uh sir, I think they're here to fight us before we reach their town."

"Actually, we're were hoping you would-"

Leomon was cut off by the head Shamanmon, who turned away from him and addressed the other Shamanmon.

"You didn't tell me that in a joke form. It's Thursday, why didn't you make it a joke?"

"So-sorry sir, I just thought that you wanted to know-"

"**Mad Twist!**"

Bringing his club behind his head, the head Shamanmon swung and launched a purple ring of energy at the offending speaker, slicing the poor mon in half. Absorbing his lackey's data, he returned to face Leomon.

"Annoying when people don't follow simple rules, isn't it? So what exactly are you out here for, kitty-cat?" If you want to get right to licking my feet clean, I'm afraid you'll have to wait till 6 to do that. I can't stand being cleaned earlier than that, so we'll just get on with razing your town to the ground, and collaring the lot of you."

Restraining himself, Leomon answered back.

"Actually, you probably shouldn't do that."

"What? I shouldn't do what?"

"Try and take our town. That's so boring, and predictable. I mean, bringing a horde of vicious thugs and using them to attack a small town that's out of your way and not bothering you? It's so clichéd, and very human. You're not a boring human, are you Shamanmon?"

"Well of course not, but-"

"So then you won't just attack us, right? Why not put on a circus and leave, or help us clean up the place. It could use a nice spring cleaning, and having your traveling group of thugs help would be unexpected and noteworthy. People would talk a lot more about how you had your gang clean up a town than you having them burn it to cinder."

"I guess that would be more-"

"Oh Come On, boss!"

Shamanmon turned to see a Gotsumon push his way forward, anger making his face appear red.

"Are you actually listening to this furball? He's just trying to trick you into leaving. Leomon knows you're not all there, and is trying to take advanta-"

"What do you mean, 'not all there'?"

The surrounding Shamanmon moved away from the Gotsumon, who just realized that he said more than he meant to. Taking a step back as he noticed the menacing look in his leader's eyes, he tried pleading with the glowing Shamanmon.

"Well no, what I meant to say was that he-"

"You think I'm crazy?"

"No boss, it's just that you occasionally do things that others might see as-"

"YOU THINK I'M CRAZY!"

Had a Tamer with a D-Arc been present, the device would be shouting **Warning: Wild Digimon Digivolution!**

Shamanmon…digivolve to…**Fugamon!**

Towering over the scared Gotsumon, Fugamon glared viciously, tapping the poor Digimon's head with his bone club.

"I simply, don't want to be confused, with either that boring git Hyogamon, may his data rest in the swamp, or that show-off Orgemon. So occasionally you idiots don't seem to appreciate or understand the rules I set up to add value to your lives and separate you from the common Digimon. Does that make me crazy? Does getting rid of those who can't follow simple rules make me insane, or simply efficient? Maybe even responsible, since I want to set a proper example to the rest as to how you all should be acting. But crazy? Now is that fair, Gotsumon?"

"I guess, sir."

"You guess. That's it? No joke?"

"Well I guess it makes sense, if you were a Platypusmon, sir?"

Staring silently at the sheepish rock Digimon for a minute, Fugamon brought his fist back and quietly called out his attack.

"Evil Hurricane!"

A purple gale of ominous wind ripped the rookie apart, leaving only pebbles and then data left, which Fugamon quickly absorbed.

"That was such a week joke."

Leomon, having motioned for the Centarumon herd to flank around the horde while they were distracted by their boss' antics, and keeping the Chuchidarumon near him along with the Togemon and J-Mojyamon, spoke again to clearly unbalanced tribe leader.

"Back to what we were discussing; if you don't want to be confused with either Orgemon or Hyogamon, maybe…"

"I should just delete you now and cease with the banter? Yeah, that actually seems like a great idea."

"You can try."

"Oh I do better than that, _Felix_. I'll just do it. **Evil Hurricane!**"

"Centarumon, now! **Fist of the Beast King!**"

As the two attacks clashed, the Shamanmon suddenly noticed the herd of centaur Digimon that had surrounded them on either side and were aiming their arm cannons at them.

"**Hunting Cannon!**"

That attack was all many Shamanmon heard before being greeted with a laser beam to the face. Some were instantly deleted by this attack, while others were strong enough to survive, albeit with their form destabilizing a bit and others losing tucks and feeling in their arms. There were still plenty of uninjured Shamanmon, and those in the center of the horde volleyed their attacks over their comrades at the edges.

"**Mad Twist! Mad Twist!**"

Energy rings peppered the ground before the Centarumon, as well as clipping a few, though none of them did any permanent damage. Back in the front, Leomon was directly engaging Fugamon, clashing his sword with Fugamon's club. The Togemon were making short work of the Shamanmon, but were having problems with the Gotsumon.

"**Lightspeed Jabbing! Lightspeed Jabbing!**"

"**Rock Fist!**"

"Well kitty, I must say you have a nice little militia here."

"Thanks. It helps that they all can reach Champion on their own, and not hog the power and delete their friends who make it as well."

"Is that meant to be at a jab at me, for how my brothers and I run things? Please, it's the only way to run a group. The strong lead, the weak follow. If everyone's strong, then who's in charge? Who organizes? And more importantly, where's the fun in that?"

"Sometimes I wonder if you're really crazy, or just incredibly stupid."

"I am not crazy! **Heavy Stick!**"

"Stupid it is then. **Beast Sword!**"

* * *

><p>Bootsector Forest, 3 hours and 20 minutes spent.

Tired and hurt, Kotemon and Candlemon backed in to each other as Roachmon and Dokugumon moved in on them. Asami and Dmitri weren't doing much better, being unable to activate a card or weak code to restore the cards they had used because of the constant attacks coming from the surrounding Digimon. Ninjamon came up to them, pointing his blade at them.

"We already let a Tamer by here, and he was with Shin. You two aren't as lucky. Not just anyone gets to waltz through here and expect to make it out unscathed."

Ignoring the Digimon, Dmitri spoke to Asami over his shoulder.

"Since it looks like we're about to be logged off forcefully, here's what I suggest we do. Tell me what floor your VR terminal is, and after I knock aside whatever security is waiting for me in reality, you and me split. I have a friend who can shelter us until MAGAMI stops being interested in you."

"…As nice as that is, that won't be necessary. I not actually at the arcade with you guys."

"Well of course you are, how else can you be playing the game?"

"I have a personal terminal where I live."

"Yeah, right; do you know how much those things cost?"

"$860,700, if you ignore the bill you'd get for the amount of power the machine requires."

"…you're parents are loaded, are they?"

"It's not something I like to talk about."

"Well I guess I really am all by my lonesome then. Colin's not here and you apparently were _never_ here."

"Actually, when you see Colin, could you tell him to meet me tomorrow as Columbus Circle? Around 9 or 10 o'clock."

"So now I'm your match-maker?"

Blushing a bit, she punched his arm.

"Just tell him, would ya?!"

"Fine, whatever. Oh great, it looks like the ninja's finished monologing."

This caused Ninjamon to stamp his foot in frustration.

"Ignore me, will you? **Dancing Leaves!**"

"Asami!" cried Kotemon, still concerned about his Tamer as he saw the attack being launched at her. Candlemon turned to see that his Tamer was in danger as well, and a look of terror came upon his face.

Launching his attack directly, the shuriken was suddenly stopped by raining spikes.

"**Caltrops!**"

Appearing in front of the two Tamers, a blue/purple pallet swap of Ninjamon stood there, grinning at his counterpart.

"Really need to learn to control that temper of yours, Ninjamon. I can't always be here to keep you from doing something stupid."

"You! Kougamon, what are you doing here?!"

Dmitri suddenly felt his mounted D-Arc grow warm, and it started to hum as a different, more familiar voice came out of it.

"Is this thing on? Dmitri buddy, are you there?"

"Lucky?"

Asami turned and looked at the D-Arc, confused as much as everyone else present.

"Who?"

Ninjamon dashed toward Kougamon, who calmly waited for his opponent to approach.

"**Iga Style: Sword Draw!**"

"**Kouga Style: Shadow Clone!**"

Ninjamon slashed through a fading Kougamon, and was greeted by the sight of three other Kougamon descending upon him, blades drawn. Lucky Mouse spoke again, not at all concerned about how his agent was faring.

"Dmitri, how are ya? Sorry, dumb question; your obviously doing terrible. I mean you fail your first in-game mission, you barely completed the one I sent you on…what's going on? You eat something weird, is that why your game is off this week?"

"It's a lot harder to multi-task downloading specs in such a weird way with your strange game pass and play the actual game when my Digimon is some sort of 'anomaly' that attracts unwanted attention."

Candlemon saddened upon hearing Dmitri refer to him as such; Lucky Mouse continued to speak.

"Yeah, about that; the independent Digimon thing isn't my doing. Though I can see how that could affect your work ethic. Strange, I didn't think the Digi-World would select you to receive a sentient partner. I mean, you've never been the believing type, and you're not the easiest person to be friends with. No offense."

"None taken. But don't tell me you've fallen for this sentient Digimon thing the game's been trying to force feed me."

"Fallen for it? Buddy, I knew about it before you knew that Virtual Reality was possible. Look, we'll talk later; I got Colin to look after…"

Both Dmitri and Asami spoke at the same time.

"Colin's with you?!"

"Not so loud, I'm at the hotel. Don't need you two giving away my position."

"What are you doing there?"

"Well someone has to distract the hotel security so that you can make it back to my place and not end up arrested."

"What about Asami? Can you help her too?"

Asami stayed quiet as Lucky answered for her.

"Your friend Ms. Kaneko knows full well that MAGAMI won't so much as bother her butler by knocking on her suite's door. She'll be fine, and able to play another day. You, on the other hand need to log off as soon as possible without losing Candlemon, and get your butt over to my place."

Looking to Asami for confirmation, who nodded, Dmitri took the time Kougamon was buying him and Asami fighting off Ninjamon to finally activate there weak codes and restore their deck.

"What's the plan, Lucky?"

"Swarms of BladeKuwagamon are going to distract this bunch. Follow Kougamon out of the forest to a path called the Blistering Path. You'll run into Colin and Kumamon- I mean Maul in the town at the path's end."

"I thought Maul was deleted," said Asami, though she was still happy that the hyper bear was okay.

"Well yeah, but there ways around silly things like 'death' here in the Digital World. At times, anyway."

Dmitri sighed and brought out his refreshed deck. _My god, Lucky's gone native. Oh well, whatever keeps me out of jail._

He was about to slide a card through his D-Arc, when Lucky spoke again.

"By the way, don't bother digivolving your partners. Just give them a power boost to restore them and get ready to run."

Annoyed but complying, the two proceeded to slash their respective restorative cards through their digivices.

**Digi-Modify: Stamina Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Energy Activate!**

Feeling repowered, Candlemon and Kotemon readied themselves for another fight, until Asami said otherwise.

"Guys, be ready to run. We can't take on the entire forest!"

Suddenly, a mechanical buzzing engulfed the forest, and a few of the combatant could make out sparking white figures in the distance, coming closer. Ninjamon looked at his grinning adversary, now legitimately frightened.

"What did you do, you stupid Kouga?"

"I may have disturbed a hive of BladeKuwagamon, and I might have done this while looking like a stupid red-masked ninja Digimon. You don't know anyone who looks like that, do you…oh. Oh you're screwed."

"Why you-no-good Kouga!"

Slashing at the empty air where Kougamon just was, Ninjamon saw that his opponent had left their engagement to once again stand beside the human Tamers.

"Time to go, follow me please."

Moving ahead, Kougamon motioned for the four to follow him, just as the first few BladeKuwagamon descended upon the assembled Dokugumon, Roachmon, and Ninjamon.

"**Spark Blade! Air Knife!**"

Either stabbing a nearby Digimon with an electrified knife or creating an air crescent similar to DinoHyumon's usual blade crescent attacks, the BladeKuwagamon fell upon their targets with little intention of showing mercy. As the four Tamers sped off away from the carnage, they could hear Ninjamon desperately try to ward them of with multiple 'Dancing Leaves" attacks.

* * *

><p>Hyperlink Town, the Alluring Lilymon Saloon's Basement

"Deputymon, send them up."

Surprised to hear a Centarumon addressing him, Deputymon got out of his rocking chair and opened the door upstairs, standing in the doorway to keep the two from going up till he spoke with the Digimon.

"What's up? Why would I do that?"

"Leomon's orders. Says to give the boy back his digivice and deck, and that he'll need them to help fight."

"Looks like you boys get to fight after all."

As Colin and Maul went by Deputymon on their way up, the boy gave the Digimon a look that meant 'sleep with one eye open', clearly showing that he's still pissed at the deputy for his hazing antic earlier.

Taking back his D-Arc and attaching to his left arm, Colin heard a voice he was half-pleased to hear once more.

"Yo Colin, glad you got your gear back. By the way, Dmitri and Asami are headed your way."

For a split second he was happy to hear that, until he remembered a piece of advice Shin had just given him earlier.

"Wait, why did you send them here? You know no one still playing is supposed to see me, right?"

"Well considering that they are both now wanted by the Game Admins as well, especially Dmitri, I didn't think it be a problem. Besides, your girl is real eager to see you again."

Blushing a little after hearing this, which caused Kumamon to giggle childishly at the sight, Colin quickly dismissed the idea.

"Asami's not my girl; I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Whatever. Anyway, they're coming, and you could use all the help you can get. Oh, and when your times up we're going to have to discuss and alibi for you, when I get Dmitri out of the hotel."

"What do you mean get Dmitri out-"

"We'll talk later, right now focus on helping Shin."

Not liking being told to shut up, Colin flipped up the sky as if Lucky was a god, and followed the Centarumon back to the battle, though he and Maul had trouble keeping up with the centaur, who seemed to not be willing to slow down a bit.

Once they were able to see the battle better, having moved closer, Colin pulled out a card for his deck and slide it through. _Let's see if we can win this one._

**Digi-Modify: Digivolution Activate!**

Kumamon…digivolve to…**Grizzlymon! Hah!**

"You feeling up for this, Maul?"

"I'm fine, stop being such a wet blanket."

Smiling and seeing that his partner's attitude was intact, at the very least, the two rushed towards the fight eager to help. The first thing Grizzlymon did was pounce and land on top of a group of Shamanmon.

"**Maul Attack!**"

His claws glowing crimson red like before, Grizzlymon swung at a bunch of Shamanmon and severely wounded them. Worried for a second that Grizzlymon wasn't as strong as he used to be, Colin's fears were lifted by the bear's following attack.

"**Crescent Dawn!**"

Swinging his head and letting loose an energy crescent, the beam cut through the Shamanmon and reduced them to data. Five extra Shamanmon cards formed and flew towards Colin, who expertly caught each for the first time as his D-Arc gave a new, strange message.

**Rogue Player claims 5 cards.**

_Please tell me that that's simply the digivice's new way of announcing when I get a card, and not reporting what I do back to MAGAMI._ Since nothing seemed to happen a while after the D-Arc spoke, Colin hopefully assumed that nothing would come out of it. _I better talk to Shin about this._

Speaking of which, Shin was holding his ground rather well against the red Hyogamon counterpart, though Fugamon wasn't exactly having a hard time himself. Both had sustained little injuries here and there, but nothing serious enough to give the other an advantage. Noticing the Tamer and his partner coming into the fight from the corner of his eye, the Orgemon Brothers' boss motioned for someone's attention.

"Golemon, take care of the flesh bag and his traitor-mon. Remember, no bantering!"

"…weren't you quipping away with Leomon a moment ago?"

"Golemon!"

"I'm going."

Leaping over to where Grizzlymon was pinning down two Gotsumon, Golemon swung his fist at the surprised grizzly.

"**Rock Punch!**"

Landing squarely in the middle of Maul's face, the poor bear was sent flying off the two Gotsumon. They went to praise their savior, only to be Gibbs slapped (NCIS) for their troubles.

"Idiots, should have been caught in the first place. Just here to finish him off, not save you."

Leaving them to their shame, as they cast their heads down, Golemon rushed at Maul, who was now ready for him and back on his feet. Colin also wasn't taking any chances with this lieutenant.

**Digi-Modify: Wild Gloves Equipped!**

**Digi-Modify: Hyper Speed Activate!**

_Huh, didn't use to say that when I activated the Wild Gloves. It's almost as if someone rewrote it because they didn't like how it originally sounded. It does sound better though._

Maul was too busy exchanging blows with Golemon to bother noticing this.

"**Maul Attack!**"

"**Rock Punch!**"

The Chuchidarumon and Togemon were mopping up the Shamanmon near them with little trouble, as the Rookies even in the previously large numbers were still a bunch of Rookies, versus experienced Champions.

"**Mud Ball!**"

"**Needle Spray!**"

Seeing that his forces were granting him the swift victory that he had expected, Fugamon started to act more wildly in anger. Leomon had to concentrate more on blocking his blows that trading his own.

"Gaaaah! Why aren't you dipsticks slaughtering them? They're a bunch of damn cacti, mud bears and centaurs. You are goblins! **Evil Hurricane!**"

The attack was too wide for Leomon to block completely, and a bunch of his allies were caught unawares, including J-Mojyamon.

"Uggh, damn he's angry."

Noticing his boss' rising tempter, Golemon chose to abruptly cut his battle short.

"**Sulfur Plume!**"

Releasing poisonous gases in Grizzlymon's direction, Golemon left the bear to deal with his lack of clean air so as to attend his boss.

"Fugamon."

"What, Golemon?! Why aren't you fighting that stupid bear anymore?! Why isn't anyone doing what I tell them to do?!"

"Fugamon, are men captured the fleeing townsfolk that live on the outskirts minutes ago. We no longer have to fight here, when we already have new workers for the mines."

Calming down slightly, Fugamon stopped swinging his club at everything in sight. He actually appeared sane for a moment.

"Right, right. The slaves. But I want at least one dead opponent today, or someone's doing hard labor with the slaves as punishment."

"As you wish."

Getting a group of Gotsumon to come with him, Golemon singled out J-Mojyamon and motioned for them to attack. J saw them out of the corner of his eye, and quickly reacted.

"**Jungle Bone!**"

Tossing his bone, it connected with two Gotsumon and knocked them back, but the other started the assault without them.

"**Crazy Crusher!**"

The ground beneath J-Mojyamon rocked back and forth; knocking the Digimon onto his back and leaving him wide open for the leaping Golemon's attack.

"Rock Punch!"

Diving down onto his poor victim, fist first, Golemon had a hint of a smile creep onto his face as the Digimon that was J-Mojyamon broke up into data and was absorbed by him. Leomon saw this and roared with anger, aiming his next attack at the lieutenant.

"**Fist of the Beast King!**"

Striking Golemon, the rock Digimon fell back, but shrugged off the attack quickly, chuckling a little as he did.

"Fire no work, made of stone. Stupid kitty."

Growling, Leomon started to charge at the Digimon, but Fugamon got in the way and knocked him back with his own attack.

"**Evil Hurricane!**"

The gale took a bit longer than expect to knock back the enraged lion, but it eventually did, to Fugamon's delight. Suddnely, he clapped his hands, and four Shamanmon brought out his throne as Golemon came up in front of him.

"This was a treat, if not for the lack of your friends dying. But now that at least one has, I can retire to my lovely mine, where all your friends like the SandYanmamon, or the Hagurumon, and even a couple of Palamon are busy chipping away for my benefit."

"What makes you think I'm just going to let you leave?"

"Well you're rather typical for not just letting me go, so Golemon, if you don't mind."

"**Sulfur Plume!**"

The assembled militia of Hyperlink Town was held back by a huge cloud of poisonous gas. Leomon tried to exit through on the other side, so that he can confront Fugamon before he escapes, but found that he could stand the gas long enough to make it through. Retreating to the side where his allies were, he cursed softly while landing on his knees, before de-digivolving back to Elecmon.

Colin, having made sure that Kumamon was okay first, went over to Shin to see if he was all right.

"That Digimon was a close friend, wasn't he?"

"J-Mojyamon was a good a friend as they come. I will personally see to it that Fugamon is reduced to junk data for this."

Knowing that Shin was angry, but wanting to clear something, the lead Centarumon came up to the angry Elder.

"They mentioned a mine, Elecmon. What do you think they could be after in the middle of a desert?"

Pausing for a moment to think, he answered.

"I have an idea, but it doesn't matter. Because we're going to beat them before they dig up so much as a sail and I will personally bury the lot of them with their find."

"And free the captives, right?"

"Of course. But to do that, we need to destroy their captors first."

* * *

><p><span>FanAuthor's Note<span>: Really sorry about the long break, was pretty busy with some personal things. I won't make any promises I can't keep in the foreseeable future, but I'll try to make the next chapter happen sooner rather than later.


	11. Chapter 11: Buried Dream

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon; otherwise updates would be worse than the ones for Young Justice (zing).

FanAuthor's Note: For those of you who read my other fanfic, you'll have seen my message about how it won't be updated till later. You'll likely also have noticed that at least two characters from this fanfic have been mentioned. I plan on finishing this fanfic first (by the time I'm old and gray), before having anything further to do with the Adventure verse. This has been my plan from the get go, so that my characters don't just appear out of nowhere (not completely), and so they don't come off as Mary Sues/Gary Stus (they fail to often to have that happen at all).

Also, here is the generic plea for reviews. Even if you don't like the fic so far, please tell me what you think.

…also, none of the plays/pieces of art that I name in story are real. I hope, for humanity's sake.

Chapter 11: Buried Dream

* * *

><p>Catching up to a group of chained Digimon being prodded forward by a gang of Gotsumon, the head rock Digimon turned and saluted the Shamanmon who rode up on his throne.<p>

"Greetings sir, we weren't expecting you back so soon. I take it you trounced the townsfolk."

"We did well enough, just keep tugging their chains and be quiet."

"Sorry sir."

The assorted group of captured Digimon the horde had claimed featured a few Clockmon, some Hagurumon, an entire swarm of SandYanmamon, and quite a few Palamon. A few of the Shamanmon started hooting and howling at the sight of the scared Palamon, making rude gestures and pointing at some as if to pick them out. Those closest to the head Shamanmon and Golemon were knocked on the head, and that ceased the howling of the rest. The head Shamanmon addressed his gang.

"None of that. Like any of you would interest these fine ladies anyway. Isn't that right girls?"

"Leave those young flowers alone! What could you possible want from us that you'd drag us out of our homes and half-way across the desert?!"

Golemon eyed the mouthy Clockmon, and raised his hand to silence him, but Shamanmon lazily waved his hand to tell him to stop.

"You'll see when we get there. If you make it without rusting, geezer."

* * *

><p>Blistering Path

"So hey guys, Kougamon is almost here with those four and- whoa. Why isn't Fugamon deleted yet? My tech isn't sensing a key in any of your guys, and Colin doesn't have a boss card so…"

"Not now, Lucky."

Looking at Shin's face, which was still very furious, the chatty hacker got the idea that they had lost someone, and went quiet… for a little while anyway.

"Okay, sorry for running my mouth, really. But we have to sort out the whole 'alibi' thing right now."

Colin looked up frustrated at the sky.

"Can't it wait?"

"No, and you're not even doing anything right now, so hush and listen. I'm going to mess with the lights in for at least five floors of the hotel, and some other fun things that will get security's attention. Even then there will likely still be some people going to evict Dmitri. The lights will give him some cover to meet me outside once I've ditched the guards, and we'll lead who's ever still following us at that point on a wild goose chase before returning to my van and coming back to unplug you."

"And I need to know all of this why?"

"I'm getting to that part. You have to make it look like you were sleeping with Sara, and that you had no idea what Dmitri was up to."

"…what?"

"Look, I'll sneak you into the hotel while it's still pitch black. They won't have fixed what I'd have bugged their system with by then, and you can make up to your room and be half-dressed in plenty of time. Sara will be there waiting for you."

"Why would she even be there?!"

"Because she owes me for something before, and she likes you well enough. Maybe if you're lucky you won't only be fake boinking her."

Blushing a little, Colin still wasn't convinced.

"How is me sleeping with a hotel receptionist not cause for me getting kicked out of the hotel? And besides, I'm not just going to sleep with her. I just met her, and there's someone e-"

He stopped himself before he said something he knew Lucky would refuse to shut up about later, and this told Lucky it was his turn to speak again.

"Look, it's very simple. The hotel has no problem with employees 'encouraging' visitors to stay in their own special ways, and trust me; they've looked the other way regarding things like this before. If you seemed to have been too busy sleeping with Sara to have been helping Dmitri in anyway, they won't question it. You'll get to stay at the fancy hotel, and when you come here at night to hang with Kumamon no one will ask where you are, or bother you while you're away. It's the perfect alibi."

Colin could think of few other words to describe it other than perfect, but chose to keep quiet about it.

"Whatever."

Turning around and surveying the battlefield, he saw the herd of Centarumon tending to their wounds, the healthier ones somehow sharing data with the injured, which seemed to be healing them. The Togemon and Chuchidarumon weren't doing this though, and were either speaking amongst themselves, or stealing a look towards the lead Centarumon, Starmon, and Shin.

"Elecmon, we know where they're going. Why aren't we just following them now that that poisonous gas has dissipated?"

"We're waiting for the other Tamers. With the time they have left, we can at least fill them in on what to try to do if they can't join us in the attack."

Annoyed that they were yet again relying on human teenagers, Centarumon stamped his hoof and neighed angrily.

"Why do we need them? We have more than enough to confront the horde with, as you just saw. And we'll have more than enough support from the captives we free."

"That's only if we manage to free them as we fight our way inwards. The mine isn't exactly the easiest thing to invade, and you're forgetting that Fugamon could have other forces at the mine to reinforce his raiding party."

Starmon spoke up so as to try and keep the two from getting nasty.

"What Centarumon means, Shin, is that as you said, those two coming likely don't have a lot of time left in this world for the day. Even if you do fill them in on where the mine is, and what to expect, they'll either time out just as we're attacking, or possibly even sooner on the trek there. By the time it's safe enough for them to return, the fight will be over one way or another. It does seem to make more sense to try to fight them now."

Shin was about to answer, but LM started to speak to him directly.

"Uh yeah, about them. They're pretty much here, just look over to your left."

Facing the direction Lucky had mentioned, Shin could make out four very tired looking figures, following a spry and bouncy fifth one ahead of them.

* * *

><p>4 hours spent (Asami and Dmitri)

"Come on you four keep up. They're just up ahead, so quit your belly-aching."

Kougamon ninja hopped ahead, almost playfully and without any hint of fatigue on him. The two Tamers and their partners were certainly more than a little tired.

"So it's agreed, we just happened to lose him as we escaped the forest. It was probably the Roachmon that got him."

"Agreed."

"Right."

"Just grab him."

Launching themselves with what little energy they had left, the four of them tried dog-piling on top of Kougamon. Pretending for a split second not to be aware of what was going on behind him, the blue ninja ball suddenly vanished as the four fell in an uncomfortable heap, and two Kougamon clones (or one clone and the real one, even I don't know now) appeared and started danced gleefully on them. All four of them shouted at their guide.

"Get off!"

"Sheesh, this is the thanks I get for saving your hides? What an ungrateful lot."

Dmitri cried out in anger, being at the bottom of the pile.

"You didn't shut up the entire time we were running!"

"It was to encourage you to run."

This time it was Asami who snapped back.

"The BladeKuwagamon did that just fine, thanks!"

The five of them stopped their shouting match as they saw five other people approaching. Three of them they recognized.

"Colin! Maul, your ali- okay!"

This came from Asami, who struggled out of the heap to get back on her feet. Candlemon smiled brightly at the sight of his friend being okay, while Kotemon simply waved with one arm. Colin waved with a half-smile at his friends, still unsure as to how to feel about all of this, while Maul had run up to Candlemon and was joyfully swinging him around before quickly putting him down as his fingers remembered that they were grasping hot wax. He started blowing his paws franticly while Candlemon looked on a little embarrassed and ashamed. Colin and Asami got a little chuckle out of this, and even Kotemon seemed to warm up a bit by the silliness of it all. Dmitri smiled a little, but his mood soured a bit when he saw Shin.

"Oh, you're still around are you?"

Forcing an irritated smile, Shin flashed a fang as he snapped back.

"I hear you won't be joining us for long. So sad, to bad"

"Alright, enough you two. We get it, you dislike one another; get a room."

Dmitri noticed that Colin, Maul and Shin seemed to hear the same voice that was coming out of his D-Arc.

"I take it you all know about Lucky?"

"The hacker is involved in this, Elecmon?"

Thinking that the horse Digimon was referring to him, Dmitri prepared to have a go with him when Shin spoke first.

"Yes Centarumon, Lucky Mouse is assisting me. Is that going to be a problem?"

"You can't see a problem with that? He's a defiler, and you're telling him to have his way with our world just by addressing you."

"Hey-"

Lucky was now broadcasting so that all ten of them could hear him.

"I do not defile, I make sweet passionate love to data. Sure, they don't always survive our little love affair, but that usually normal computer software. Not Digimon data. Calm down Tornado, I'm not going to rearrange your home into my personal Tetris game."

Snorting, Centarumon went quiet as Lucky went on.

"Oh hey, so you guys made it. Have any problems on the way?"

"No, not rea-"

"**YES!**"

Kougamon stuck his tongue out at the four disgruntled travelers, and then disappeared as Candlemon and Kotemon tried to attack him.

"Well see, now you've gone and spooked the hired help. Lord knows that'll cost me more than I'd wanted to spend on all of this."

"Sorry to hear that this is costing you _so much_, Lucky."

Not wanting to take that from Dmitri, Lucky countered.

"I'm sorry, do you all hear something? 'Cause I'm sure I didn't just hear the guy I hired to steal specs for me and Not-Get-Caught mouth off to me. Especially since said guy is about to be saved by me once I'm done getting through this damn firewall."

Muttering a bunch of curses, Lucky's voice trailed off. Asami turned to Colin, who briefly looked away before returning the gaze.

"Hey."

"Uh, hey."

"I thought you got booted off. What happened?"

"Well, Lucky happened. Kinda, it's a weird story."

"Want to talk about it?"

The other seven people gathered there started to feel a bit awkward. Well, Kotemon, Candlemon, and Starmon did. Maul and Shin were smirking and poking each other to try to keep the other from laughing, Dmitri was rolling his eyes, and Centarumon just looked stiff and unconcerned.

"Maybe later. When we've helped out Shin take some mine."

"Right, can we get on with this. Elecmon, what is it you wanted with us? We don't have a lot of time to spare."

Shin didn't even look Dmitri's way as he spoke.

"No one asked for you; you can go if you want."

"Oh will you two stop? Even I'm getting tired of this."

Lucky was back, and Colin, Shin, and even Dmitri groaned at this.

"Ha ha, 'Lucky's so annoying'. I just thought you'd like to know that your escape has been planned, so whenever you're ready to go, Dmitri, let me know."

"Now would be nice."

"What? But you got like a whole hour left before-"

"I got your damn specs, and I've had quite enough of this place as it is."

Dmitri turned to Asami and Colin.

"No offense, it's not because of you guys."

"None taken," replied Asami, though she still seemed annoyed with him for before.

"Well unless you know who to log yourself out prematurely-"

Dmitri interrupted Lucky, while pushing some buttons on his D-Arc.

"Please, I figured that out in the first five hours."

A pillar of light came down and enveloped Dmitri and Candlemon. Dmitri turned and gave a little wave, before the light shaft sped upwards at a ridiculously fast rate. Just like that the two of them were gone.

"Well here we go then. Be back when I'm done."

Lucky went quiet after that, and Colin couldn't help but smile a little at the thought of there being no annoying voice rattling around in his head for the next few minutes.

"Right, now that that's over with, shall we get going?"

Elecmon motioned with a paw for the remaining four to follow him. They did so, all the while Asami noticed Colin stealing glances her way, and whenever he realized that she had seen him, he'd look away quickly. She laughed a little to herself, while Kotemon shook his head out of sight at the whole thing.

"So Shin, what exactly is the plan?"

"I'm actually making it as we go, but considering the fact that Fugamon probably has more Digimon at his disposal at the mine, we're going to have to find a way to sneak some of us in behind their lines."

"I'm sorry, what are we doing?"

Starmon and Deputymon (blue scarf) slowed down their paces to match Asami's. Deputymon tipped his hat as he spoke.

"Ma'am, we're gonna liberate some captured Digimon. They're being held by one of the Orgemon Brother's crew. I believe you've dealt with some of them before."

She nodded grimly. Part of her wanted to comment on how this all seemed ridiculous. Heck, the fact that she was still playing at this point was ridiculous in itself. She'd just thought this would be fun way to spend her summer, away from home and in freakin' New York of all places. Granted, there were other things to do in the city: hang out at clubs, check out the latest Broadway plays, meet cute boys…this time it was her who was stealing a look at Colin, only he didn't catch her doing it.

Not really paying that much attention to what Shin and the others were discussing, she used the slow walk to whatever mine they were headed for to think. Understandably MAGAMI couldn't do much to her. It's not like she liked flaunting her family's influence or anything, but it did have its perks when needed. But they didn't necessarily have to make it easy for her terminal to connect to the game servers, even if she hired aids to boost her signal, or whatever it is the Geek Squads do to fix those things. And ignoring that, what's the point in playing if there's no one to hang with? Dmitri's not likely coming back, and she probably can't be seen next to Colin, or else risk MAGAMI really trying something, and investigating how he's still playing.

…_how is it that he's still in the game, anyway? I thought once a partner was lost, they play was kicked out._

Looking at Maul, he didn't seem any worse for wear. How this is she wasn't sure, but clearly Shin had something to do with it.

_Please don't tell me Colin's a hacker too. And who is this Lucky guy that was yacking on a moment ago?_

"Yo, Asami."

Turning to the sound of someone calling her name, she saw that Colin was looking at her strangely.

"You okay over there? You seemed to be off in your own world."

Smiling back, she nodded.

"I'm fine, just thinking."

"It's been a crazy two days, huh?"

"Oh god, it really has only been a couple of days, huh?"

"Feels like five whole months already, don't it?"

"Try a year."

"Nah, not that long."

"Colin, how did you get Kumamon back? I won't say anything to, you know, MAGAMI, but I'm just curious."

"…honestly, it was mostly Shin and Starmon who did that. I really don't know how. Something to do with the data he had left and fixing the missing parts. Apparently there weren't too many important parts missing. Least I think."

"I'm glad you were able to get him back. I'm sure your brother would be thrilled to hear that."

"I don't think so, considering how I got him busted up in the first place."

Pausing for a moment, neither of them knew what else to say for a while. Then Asami shoved aside her worries and asked anyway.

"…Colin, I got only a few minutes left, maybe half an hour. Tomorrow, around maybe noon, would you like to show me around town? Say we meet by that giant Lion King Billboard at Times Square."

Realizing that she was asking him out, he immediately agreed.

"Yeah, I mean sure. No problem, noon it is."

They both heard Kumamon and Elecmon sniggering ahead of them, and gave the two dirty glares. The two Digimon ignored them, and continued to barely hold in their laughter at the two shy teenagers.

"If your human drama is over now, could you please stay focus on the matter at hand?"

Asami decided that she didn't like Centarumon much. Colin felt about the same.

"Right, as we were saying earlier Asami, we need to sneak behind Fugamon's horde into the mine, and find out where they're holding the strongest workers. They'll help us free the others, and attack Fugamon from both sides."

"How are we going to do that?"

"Actually, we were hoping that you and Kotemon could handle that."

Asami gave Colin a 'what you just say' look.

"You want me and Kotemon to handle this? Since when did I become Solid Snake?"

Elecmon chimed in, thinking that what he was about to say was harmless.

"Well you're the shortest human we have, and there are bound to be slave robes in the caves approaching the mine that you and Kotemon can slip into, and besides-"

The poor red rabbit creature soon found his head caught in an almost comical vice-like grip, as Asami shook him to-and-fro in an animesque wrath.

"Well EXCUSE ME FOR BEING SHORT, RABBIT!"

As the others did nothing to help the comical victim, Kotemon tugged at Colin's shorts to catch his attention.

"I take it Mistress Asami is sensitive about her height."

"Yeah, I'm getting that feeling Kotemon."

Calming down a little, Shin made sure to speak from behind Starmon as he tried apologizing.

"What I meant to say, no offense intended, was that you are not so freakishly large compared to other humans, being of a most respectable size-"

"DON'T patronize me!"

"…that you'd be the best for the job. I could try it alone, but they'd recognize me instantly. You under a robe could pass yourself off as any manner of Digimon. It was a compliment, really."

Staring angrily at Shin for a while, she eventually calmed down and conceded.

"Fine, we'll do it. But I hope you remember that my time is nearly up."

"You'll be fine. I bet you'll get us in and have time to spare kicking Shamanmon ass."

Smiling back at Colin, she challenged him.

"I'm going after Fugamon himself. Dmitri bagged Hyogamon, which leaves me this one."

"Hey, I saw him first. That makes him mine."

"Didn't call dibs, not yours to claim. Oh hey, is that it over there?"

Looking ahead of the small militia, they could all now see a spiraling hole in front, like a canyon only closed off. Something that looked like a sail was pointing up from the middle.

"That would be it," replied Starmon.

"What's that thing sticking up?"

"The ship they're after."

Both of the Tamers, and even Kumamon stared at the thing is disbelief.

"A ship, in the middle of a desert?"

"Right, you'll don't know about the legend."

"Another one?" asked Colin.

"This one is mostly made up by your 'MAGAMI' people, meant to progress their game along."

"How does it go?"

"Basically, an ancient Sea Digimon, some say a Zudomon, built a ship to transport his friends across the Net Ocean, so that they could escape the craziness of the Server Continent. But some of the travelers became homesick after their first few weeks here. There was some infighting, and then Zudomon, being reduced to an Ikkakumon upon landing here, decided that no one could use the ship unless they worked for it, so he managed to bury deep within the desert, in an unmarked location, so that no one could leave the new home and bring the craziness over here."

After taking in the ever so brief summary, Asami had some questions to ask.

"Okay, first off, why was Zudomon reduced to Champion-level when he came here. And secondly, how did the Orgemon Brothers find it then?"

"Your MAGAMI people have placed a program over the island, that prevents Ultimate-Level Digimon from being able to stay in that form here long, at least until some 'game event' is triggered. As for your second question, one day Orgemon was having an argument with Fugamon, and as they fought they caused severe winds to blow all about the desert, until it got to the point that Hyogamon noticed the tip of the sail jutting out of the sand. Since then, since he won the argument, Orgemon tasked Fugamon with digging out the vessel."

"Sounds like a wonderful brother," said Colin.

"You should see him on a good day. Horrible bully, that there Orgemon."

They started to crouch amongst the standing rocks, hiding behind them as they got closer. Colin and Asami shared a look, before she and Kotemon departed to try and find a place they could sneak through.

* * *

><p>4 hours, 20 minutes spent.

"…Mistress Asami, I'd like to apologize for my behavior earlier."

Not really wanting to remember the past few exchanges she'd had with Kotemon, Asami sighed a little and spoke back.

"No, it's not a problem. In a way, I'm to blame for being so matter-of-fact about it."

"You still think I'm just a program in a game, don't you?"

She didn't answer, which was about the same as saying yes. Kotemon was surprisingly calm this time, and went on.

"That is fine; I shall just have to show you otherwise. I am far more complex than some vocal shogi piece."

The two had spent a few minutes trying to scout for a gap between the Shamanmon and Gotsumon patrolling the top ridge of the mine. Seeing none, they opted for the second best approach; taking out a patrol that wouldn't be noticed anytime soon. Circling around until they found just a spot, they found that their luck was even better, as taking out these two Gotsumon would gain them entrance to cave just like Shin had mentioned earlier. Sharing a look with Asami, Kotemon walked over to the two, feigning loyalty.

"Hello there, I've come looking for work. Know where I might find some?"

The two of them were obviously surprised to find a willing working, knowing that their mind must have a known reputation amongst other Digimon. One of the Gotsumon scratched his head while answering.

"Uh sure, just head on back there. One of the others will shackle you to the rest."

"Shackle, you mean like some sort of slave? What kind of workplace is this?"

The other Gotsumon got a little aggressive now.

"Look buddy, you came here to our place. You should have known what you were getting into."

"Well never mind then. I shall find an occupation else."

He turned to go, only to leap up out of the way of their attacks.

"**Rock Fist!**"

Soaring over them, he felt a familiar sensation as his Tamer supplied him with a card.

**Digi-Modify: Hyper Chip Activate!**

Realizing that they were fighting a Tamer's partner too late, the Gotsumon vanished into data particles as Kotemon's glowing blue shinai cut through both of them.

"**Hot Head!**"

Vertically slicing the both of them with swift movements, Kotemon got the data, and Asami got the plus two cards. You all know the deal by now.

"Okay, so that little show there was impressive. I get it, this all seems very real."

"No one is telling you to believe what you don't want to, mistress."

Turning to the caves, they proceeded inside as quietly as they could. Seeing the purple robes as mentioned by Shin, they slipped into them. Asami made sure that her hood went completely over her face. Seeing that the guard Digimon had their backs turned, they quickly snuck up to the slave line, lightly clasped some spare shackles to their arms, and once the guards were ready to go, went on with the line.

* * *

><p>Outside the mine the Centarumon were growing restless. The Togemon decided to take root in the sand while they wait, and the Chuchidarumon were playing some sort of gambling game involving tumble weeds, and whatever loose needles the Togemon had shed. Colin paced back and forth, watching Maul attempt to juggle some rocks, all the while realizing how half-developed their plan was.<p>

"We should have thought of a way to contact each other. How are we supposed to know that she's gotten the prisoners we need free?"

Shin could see he had a point, but wanted to make sure to keep the boy calm.

"We'll know when we see it. She's smart; it'll probably be hard to miss."

Starmon decided to add in his two cents.

"She'll probably just have some explosion go off. Sure it'll attract the horde's attention, but while their backs are turned we'll get them from behind."

* * *

><p> 4 hours and 25 minutes spent.

They had been a few different tunnels by now, being prodded by Gotsumon and Shamanmon along the way. Kotemon knew he had to take the abuse for the moment, but Asami could swear she saw him mark each offender mentally for his assured vengeance later. The two of them noticed some older slaves amongst the townsfolk that Shin had mentioned. Some were Drimogemon, drilling away at the tunnel walls either to make new passage ways in the hardened sand, or to dig out some cannon or treasure chest they could see sticking out of the walls. Other victims were Gazimon, who neither felt particularly inclined to rescue, due to the Digimon's nature to be bullies in their own right, and some Floramon, like the partner to the Tamer they had fought earlier today.

When none of the guards were looking, Kotemon pointed at some of the Drimogemon and nodded. Asami nodded in return, being careful not to flip off her hood. Thankfully the guards didn't seem to want to bother any Digimon with their hoods on. _Maybe it's a religious thing or something. I can clearly make out a couple of Palamon and SandYanmamon in the same cloaks, but no one's bothering them about the robe. Not that I'm complaining, just seems a bit strange how the Shamanmon don't seem to care about who's under them._

"Helmsmen!"

The loud cry had come from the bottom of the mine. Each tunnel had an open hole so that those inside could down to the center, which is what most of the inhabitants were doing at the moment. Kotemon noticed that some of the other cloaked Digimon seemed to be shivering.

"Yes chief?"

"Send down some more Analysts. Make sure they're pretty ones too."

Kotemon noticed a few Clockmon struggle to get in the way of the Shamanmon as they reached for the cloaked Palamon. They weren't able to do much against that many Rookies, Champion or not.

"Out of the way, you perverted old geezers. You think you can have these lovely tulips all to yourselves? **Mad Twist!**"

Several purple rings chipped and dented the Clockmon, wounding all of them and getting them to back down rather quickly. Smiling, the Shamanmon returned to retrieving the reluctant Palamon. Seeing a chance to get closer, Asami shared a look with Kotemon, and then pushed her way to the front of the Palamon, making sure to keep her hood down all the time. The Shamanmon were now suspicious, and one of them made a move to lift up the cloak.

"Now why are you so eager to see the boss?"

"Would your boss like knowing that you sampled his goods before he has?"

Seeing her point, he backed away and swatted with his club for them to proceed downward, making their way to were the Bow of the ship was already dug out. It was also were (Fugamon) Shamanmon was waiting, on his throne carried on the backs of his gang.

Kotemon didn't like their current situation much, as he had no idea whether or not Asami could supply him with cards from so far way, and knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to know when to do so if she's not in eyesight. Knowing that he'd have to free what prisoners he could now, he waited until they had come across a cave with a lot of Drimogemon. Then he pretended to stumble, bumping into an irate SandYanmamon before him and brining the whole line crashing onto their faces.

"Alright, who's the idiot that's holding up the line, eh?"

A Shamanmon came up to inspect what was going on. Kotemon quickly made sure as to show the SandYanmamon his loose shackles, and freed him of his before the guard came up to them. Pretending to still be cuffed, he passed them by, before they turned their attention to those behind them. Quickly freeing a bunch of Palamon and Clockmon, Kotemon left them to surprise the Shamanmon. He hadn't heard them taking of their chains, as he was farther down the line, and Kotemon used this time to sneak off and see the Drimogemon.

One of them looked down from drilling out a cannon to notice the little hooded figure by his feet.

"What's an Analyst want with the likes of me?"

"I'm here to free you friend. Care to get back at those who have enslaved you?"

The Drimogemon's eyes grew wide with fear, and he kept his voice down to a whisper.

"What are you doing? Get out of here, and take that foolish talk of freedom with you."

"What are you so afraid of? They're just a gaggle of Shamanmon and Gotsumon."

"I know that. You think it was them that brought a herd of Drimogemon here against our will? There are Digimon tougher than them."

"The Orgemon Brothers work for someone?"

"They prefer to call it an 'aggressive relationship', but yes, they have a boss other than Orgemon himself."

"Who?"

"It doesn't matter, get out of here, before you cause any-"

"The prisoner are trying to escap- gack!"

The other prisoners must have alerted some guards, because now the sounds of fighting were echoing through the caves. The Drimogemon looked down at Kotemon angrily, who only managed a sheepish shrug.

"This is all going to end badly."

"Even if that is so, would you rather have it end in shackles, or with you stomping out some Gotsumon before that?"

Taking an actual moment to think it through, the Drimogemon stopped drilling.

"Well get on with it, haven't got all day."

* * *

><p>4 hours and 35 minutes spent.

Asami was now at the bottom of the mind, where only some light managed to make it down, leaving many shady places to be found around the partially dug up ship. Glad that despite her short stature, she was clearly the tallest one there, she didn't mind the suspicious looks sent her way by the guards as her group came up to the chief Shamanmon.

"Golemon, are these them?"

"Yes chief, these are the latest Analysts."

"Good, have eight of them check on our progress and clarify that this is the ship of legend."

"You already had the last batch clarify that. And the batch before them."

"Don't question me, just do it."

Picking out 7 others and then Asami herself, Golemon directed some Gotsumon to shepherd the 8 to designated spots around the dug up ship, where other workers were currently chipping away at the rocks. A Palamon looked up Asami's hood and saw that she was human, but then put a vine to her lips to signify that she won't tell, before dragging Asami with her to a spot near her.

"Say what I say, and you'll make it through this."

"I'm actually here to save you."

"How are you going to manage that without a partner?"

"He's above, sorting that out right now."

"Well until them, don't do anything to stick out."

Asami stole a look back at the shivering Palamon who weren't picked out, and saw some Shamanmon pull back their hoods and feel up their flowers.

"What in the hell are they doing?"

"Trust me, it's better not to know."

"Oy, Analyst! This looking good so far to you?"

Glad that the Gotsumon was addressing her new friend, Asami watched the Palamon study the chipped away rock, until she seemed to notice something.

"You blithering idiots, you scratched up the redwood code!"

"What now?"

"The code that keeps the hull shut and glistening. Do you know how much it costs to get new data to fix this?"

Golemon looked at the Gotsumon in charge of keeping the slaves down here in line.

"Why did you allow for this to happen?"

"Hey wait a second, I didn't know about this. It looked like a scratch, I thought I didn't matter."

Golemon looked menacingly at the poor fool, before pulling back his fist.

"**Rock-**"

"**Iron Drill Spin!**"

A wall higher up broke, revealing clouds of data that used to be Shamanmon being absorbed by an angry looking Drimogemon. Suddenly all around mine other attacks were being called out, and the chief Shamanmon was not happy with this at all.

"**Poison Ivy!**"

"**Ear Bursting!**"

"**Desert Wind!**"

"What is going on up there?"

Golemon already knew what was happening, and didn't waste any time handing out orders.

"You five, take a squad each and go put those prisoners in their place!"

"A squad, what's that?"

"It's a four man team, so get four other Digimon. Where were you spawned from, a Kindergartener game? Get to it already!"

The Palamon shared a look with Asami while they were all distracted.

"Your partner I presume?"

"Yup."

* * *

><p>After spending so much time pacing that he'd started a slight indent in the ground, Colin was almost overjoyed to hear something screaming in pain.<p>

"Well that isn't he signal, I don't know what is. Ready Maul?"

"It's finally time?"

"Oh yeah, let's go."

Shin held out a paw as he tried to get Colin's attention.

"Hey now wait, don't just go in charging by yourselves."

It was already too late, as the two of them were sliding down the hill to the spiral path down the mine.

"Let's go!"

Taking out two cards, before deciding on a third one, Colin slid them all through his D-Arc, watching as Kumamon glowed with each effect.

**Digi-Modify: Shamanmon Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Wild Gloves Equipped!**

**Digi-Modify: Hyper Speed Activate!**

Speeding down the hill ahead of Colin, Maul lived up to his chosen name by clawing through any Gotsumon foolish enough to be in his way, as well as using the Shamanmon's on moves against them.

"**Bear Claw! Dancing Bone!**"

"Way to go Maul. Let's get down there before Asami has all the fun.

Starmon shared a look with Shin before motioning for the rest to follow.

"They're energetic, aren't they? You'd almost thing we didn't just revive that one."

* * *

><p>4 hours and 45 minutes spent.

"**Thunder Kote! Thunder Kote! Hothead!**"

Slashing anyone who got too close, Kotemon started to feel tired after helping clear at least four floors. A concerned Palamon came up to him, who he happily leaned against for a moment.

"Thank you, I require a moment to catch my breath."

"The tall one was your Tamer, wasn't he?"

"She, and yes, she is. I need to get to her to be of more help to all of you."

"Sure, it's the least we can do to thank you."

Calling over a SandYanmamon, Kotemon jumped on top of him and they took off down the tunnels, breezing by any battles they saw below.

At the bottom of the mine, Asami had gotten the hang of pointing out flaws in the mining of the ship, and none of the guards got to close for fear that her wrath become more physical than verbal.

"You call this craftsmanship? I've seen In-Trainings' sculpt better Numemon statues than this rubbish. Who's the foreman of this peace of crap?!"

A sheepish Shamanmon came forward, or rather was shoved forward by his companions.

"I am, miss."

"Well you a blithering idiot if you think this ship's going to be in any condition to sail after the damage you've done to the mast. How do suppose this thing will fair in the wind if HALF THE WOOD IS CHIPPED AWAY?!"

"Well we were thinking of replacing the missing parts with-"

"You were thinking?! Well stop that, because you're horrible at it! This is a piece of history your mucking up here, so treat it with care, idiot!"

The Shamanmon retreated in shame, before being directed upwards by Golemon to help repel the prisoners. Asami's Palamon friend came over and nudged her playfully.

"You're getting the hang of this. Coming on a bit strongly though."

"Well they did wreck the mast. Look at the thing?"

"When's your partner going to be here?"

As if in answer, a group of Shamanmon and Gotsumon were bowled over by an incoming flying insect.

"**Flyin' Break!**"

Leaping off of his ride, Kotemon took up position in front of the tall cloaked figure. Golemon looked at the Rookie inquisitively.

"What are you up to slave?"

"Just waiting for a power-up; Mistress Asami, if you would."

Flinging off her robe, she smiled as she flashed her D-Arc in front of her face.

"Gladly."

**Digi-Modify: Digivolution Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Power Activate!**

Kotemon…digivolve to… **DinoHyumon! Humph!**

"Now, which one of you would be Fugamon."

Stepping off of his throne, the chief Shamanmon turned and faced, DinoHyumon.

"Golemon, what is a scale-shedder doing in my mine?"

"I assume he's looking for a beating. Shall we give him one?"

**-WARNING: ANOMALY DIGIVOLVING! TAKE CARE!-**

"Sounds like a delightful idea. I think I'll use his data to finish painting the ship puke green when we dig it out."

**-WARNING: ANOMALY DIGIVOLVING! TAKE CARE!-**

Shamanmon…digivolve to…**Fugamon!**

Realizing that they were up against two Champions, Asami decided a third card would be necessary.

**Digi-Modify: Ronin Blade Equipped!**

Fugamon sneered, as he and Golemon tensed up before charging.

"Give him all the toys you want, I'm still deleting and absorbing his sorry hide!"

* * *

><p>Up above, about fourteen floors higher, Colin and Maul were making their way down, aided by a squad of Centarumon, and few Togemon. Maul suddenly found himself backed into a corner with three Shamanmon blocking his way out, and he'd just run out of his Hyper Speed power up. Colin was about to supply him another card, when a familiar attack came roaring by.<p>

"**Fist of the Beast King!**"

Reducing the three assailants to data, Leomon came charging down, sword drawn and looking angry once more. The fight must have brought back his bad mood.

"Where is Golemon? I still want his head!"

Looking around, Colin saw out a hole a Drimogemon had made and noticed Asami and DinoHyumon below. DinoHyumon was not doing too well against both Fugamon and-.

"He's down there, Shin."

Looking down himself, he soured at the sight of them double teaming DinoHyumon.

"We won't make it down there in time."

Looking at his remaining cards, a thought occurred to Colin.

"Actually, we just might."

**Digi-Modify: Digivolution Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Unimon Activate!**

Kumamon…digivolve to…**Grizzlymon! Hah!**

Gaining black wings, Grizzlymon looked over to Colin, before he got the idea.

"You want us to drop out the window?"

"That's the idea."

Jumping onto his back, Colin grabbed hold of as much fur as he could with one hand, and extended his free one to Shin. As the lion got on (much to Maul's discomfort), the bear took off out of the window, before purposefully plummeting downward.

"**Lizard Dance!**"

"Yes, dance lizard, dance!"

DinoHyumon found that we was too tired to retort back, and was slowly putting less power into each blow. Asami didn't want to quickly run through her cards and risk him timing out all of them at the same time, but all it took was one slip up for him to be critically wounded. That and she had to constantly avoid attacks from the Shamanmon gang, which thankfully the seven free Palamon were able to help her out with. _When are the others going to be here?_

For the second time that day, an answer came in the form of a flying Digimon.

"Hey Rock-face! Eat this, **Maul Attack!**"

Turning up at the last second, Grizzlymon gave Golemon an uppercut and took off again, sending the golem Digimon flying and leaving Colin and Leomon on the ground. Fugamon turned to see who was interrupting his fight.

"You! Damn it, how bloody typical of you! The 'hero' coming to save the townsfolk! I knew were a mangy, boring cat the minute I saw you!"

Shin ignored Fugamon's rant, and focused on the descending body of Golemon. Fugamon started to stomp his feet in anger, and pulled back his arm only to get slashed in the back for his troubles.

**Digi-Modify: Training Grips Equipped!**

**Digi-Modify: Stamina Activate!**

"**Akinakes!**"

Turning around to face DinoHyumon again, he saw that the lizard man had drawn his katana, and was wearing some heavy looking gear on his arms and legs.

"Your fight is with me, remember?"

Back with Shin, when he saw that the falling Golemon was close enough, he unsheathed his sword in a lighting fast motion.

"**Beast Sword!**"

Striking the creature's back, he sent the Digimon flying into a wall. As the smoke cleared, a hair-thin crack encircled the rock Digimon, but all he did was smile tauntingly.

"That all you got, kitty cat? Your friend put up a better defense as a rug."

Roaring in anger, Shin charged at Golemon, who was expecting this.

"**Fist of the Beast King!**"

"**Rock Fist!**"

Golemon's extended arm ran through Leomon's flames and connected with the lion's face, sending him spiraling backwards.

"Fire doesn't hurt stone, remember kitty?"

Golemon leaped after his body, only to be suddenly planted in the ground.

"**Aerial Attack!**"

Maul was descending again, but now Golemon was giving him his full attention.

"**Rock Fist!**"

"**Maul Attack!**"

The first blow deepened the crater Golemon was in, while sending Maul recoiling upwards. As they continue to exchange blows, neither seemingly gaining an advantage, Colin suddenly realized something. _Golemon's stalling until Grizzlymon's wings disappear._ Sure enough, they quickly left Maul's back and Golemon was able to pressure him backwards. Shin, having regained some strength, caught a blow meant for Maul with his sword, and the two weary Champions tried to take on the golem.

* * *

><p>4 hours and 55 minutes spent.

"**Heavy Stick!**"

"**Lizard Dance!**"

As the two continued to trade blows, Asami mentally knew she couldn't have that much time left. She called out to DinoHyumon.

"Take them off; we don't have much time left."

"Got it."

**Training Grips Removed!**

DinoHyumon's muscles flexed involuntarily, and Fugamon saw that he was right and truly fu-

"Get away, get AWAY! **Evil Hurricane!**"

DinoHyumon knocked away the gale, with a flick of his blade. Fugamon sweatdropped and started to rant again.

"So typical, oh how absolutely boring. I do something you don't like, such as run an efficient mining gig, and you deem me evil. So what if I didn't ask for the permission of my works before enlisting them? What were they going to do with their lives? Watch little Palamon dance, run a stupid western town for Tamer scum like you partner? I will apologize for not-"

"**Akinakes!**"

Cleaving the Digimon in two, something similar to what happened to Hyogamon transpired. A orange object flew out of the body of Fugamon, and this time Asami could make out something that looked like a sci-fi version of a key, which then into DinoHyumon as he was absorbing Fugamon's data. Finally, a green card flew to Asami, as her D-Arc cried out.

**Second Orgemon Brothers Boss defeated. Second Key Rewarded. Congratulations.**

Flashing her new card at Colin, she saw that he was a bit too busy managing Maul's fight. Turning to DinoHyumon, she began to speak.

"Go help Grizzl-"

**Today's 5 hour session is complete. Ending Virtual Reality gameplay.**

"No wait, I have to help…"

A beam of light similar to the one that took Dmitri lifted both her and DinoHyumon up into the sky, leaving Colin the only Tamer in game. He did not enjoy that feeling.

"Colin, I know you have to have SOME card that can help out right now!"

The Shamanmon had lost their will to fight after seeing their boss being demolished. The Gotsumon, however, still had Golemon, who seemed to winning his fight against both Shin and Maul. Centarumon was about to gallop forward, but Starmon held him back.

"If you interfere, he'll attack you for it. Best to stay out and let them handle it."

"**Beast Sword!**"

"**Maul Attack!**"

"**Sulfur Plume!**"

Instead of exchanging blows this time around, Golemon elected to gas his opponents, so as to weaken them further before finishing them off. Looking frantically between his cards for an easy solution, Colin then saw a few that, together, could make up a descent plan.

**Digi-Modify: Cyclonemon Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Frigimon Activate!**

Coughing, and not at all sure why Colin had given him these particular powers, Maul turned to see his Tamer, who was motioning with him arm in some sort of ground punching motion. _What good will that-wait a minute, he might be on to something._

"**Arm Bomber!**"

Enlarging his right arm to ridiculous proportions, Grizzlymon pounded the ground, clearing the area of the toxic gas. Being able to breathe and see again, he saw Golemon above them, preparing to finish them off like he hand J-Mojyamon. He brought up his fist to counter, but knew he didn't have the strength anymore to match the golem, using the last of it to clear the gas.

**Digi-Modify: Power Strike!**

Scratch that. The golem was toast.

"**Rock Fist!**"

"**Sub-Zero Ice Punch!**"

A gale of frosty air enveloped his claw as he punched through Golemon, separating the Digimon in half along the line Leomon had made earlier. His bottom half delete instantly and that data went over to Leomon. Recovering from the gas fully after that, he stood beside a still juiced Grizzlymon, as they faced the frozen top half of Golemon, lying on the ground motionlessly and eyes full of fright. Neither of them said a word, besides the obligatory attack cries.

"**Beast Sword!**"

"**Maul Attack!**"

Dashing through Golemon in two different directions, they formed an x slash afterwards, and Golemon shattered before sending the remaining data to Maul. Refreshed, he powered down to Kumamon and then fell flat on his back, the long battle having still taken its toll on him. And without the Power Strike card to keep him juiced his energy high had subsided. Colin started to breathe calmly, until he noticed his eye sight going bonkers. He started getting blurry images, before a bunch of numbers and math problems and algorithms started dancing before him on a black screen. Leomon noticed this, as did Kumamon, but Kumamon didn't know not to talk to him while this was happening.

"Colin, are you okay partner?"

The thing Colin heard not even your worst nightmares could capture. It was an electronic garble of the loudest and most head-splitting level anyone could imagine. Colin then knew that he had to call out to…him.

"Lucky, get me out of this thing now. Gaaah, what the hell is going on?!"

It took five, painful minutes before he felt himself being pulled out of the terminal, his V Pet in hand. He then vomited into a bucket provided for him, he saw Lucky and Dmitri standing over him with worried looks. Well, Lucky looked worried, Dmitri looked like he was about to sock Lucky in the jaw.

"You tried to keep him in for more than five hours?! The hell is wrong with you?!"

"I thought that I had calculated correctly to make sure the Terminal could do so."

"Well you calculated incorrectly, idiot. Colin, you okay friend?!"

"If I heave all over your shoes, put it on Lucky's tab."

Smiling a little, Dmitri drapped his friends arm over his shoulder.

"Common, we got to get you back to the hotel."

"What, what are you talking about? If they see you, we're both in trouble. Mostly you, but still."

"Lucky was a bit excessive with his hacking. And they call me the 'Scarlet Hacker'. Ha, I'm saintly compared to the damage he inflicts."

"So I might of flood the guard room with New York Sewage, and maybe cut off the elevators for anyone who doesn't have my custom made tablet. I'm an unappreciated artist."

"…how in the hell could you flood a security room with sewage? There should be any pipes connecting the two."

"Let's just say it involved a…mini-game with the sprinklers."

Colin didn't want to hear anymore after that, and pushed off of Dmitri so as to puke into the basket again. After about two more unpleasant releases, he went over to a sink and rinsed. As he turned around, Lucky came up to him with a stick of gum.

"You'll need this, if you want to be believable."

Colin stared at him for a moment, before lightly (hah, yeah right) punching him in the gut, and then retrieved the gum from the floor. Dmitri hid a chuckle, and helped him over to the van. Lucky laughed as he caught his breath.

"Okay okay, sorry for being wrong about the five minute limit thing. Sheesh."

* * *

><p>Cyber Sheep Floor 7, 2:00 a.m.

The hotel was still very dark at this point, thanks to Lucky's cyber-attack. In fact, it had made the news, which the three had listened to on the radio on the drive over. They had snuck in through the kitchen, and had used Lucky's tablet to activate the elevator up to level 5, which is when Lucky remembered that they can track the activation of the elevator. Telling Dmitri to take Colin up the staircase to their (his former) room, Lucky went on to the 21st floor, before heading out and doing who knows what else to the hotel systems. Reaching the door, Dmitri lightly tapped it, knowing who to find inside.

"Hey there Colin, LM said to…oh my God, what happened?"

"LM is an idiot, that's what happened."

"Is he okay?"

"Well, give him some air and be fine in a few hours. Though I doubt you'll be able to solidify his 'alibi' if that's what you mean."

Making sure that Dmitri had set him down on a bed, Sara jabbed Dmitri in the ribs.

"Fuck you, I'm actually concerned for him. What did Lucky do?"

"Told him that it was safe to stay in the Virtual Terminal longer than it really is. Had what you might call a seizure."

"What I 'might call a seizure'? The hell does that even mean?"

"It's more of a rejections process, which hurts to all hell sensory wise. Sounds are distorted and excessively loud, vision is obscured. It's very unpleasant."

Dmitri took this time to actually look Sara over, and noticed how out of it she looked; at least compared to him and Lucky.

"How exactly is it that someone like you knows Lucky?"

"We were in college together, and he's had this odd brotherly need to help me out with whatever job I get. He always sends vague, 'mysterious' emails, and as you can see, even stays in contact with me after he's become a wanted hacker and adopted such a dorky name."

"Do you know why he calls himself that?"

"I don't know, probably got it from one of his games."

They both looked at Colin, who in the lantern light (Sara had set up lanterns do to the continued power outage), looked a little more peaceful now that he was fully asleep. Sara went down and played with hair, only to hear Dmitri chuckle a bit.

"What's so funny?"

"It's just that I know someone who wouldn't be too happy to see you moving in on him like this."

"Hey he flirted with me. I'm just returning in kind."

"Yeah well, not to play matchmaker or anything-"

"Then don't."

They stood there, eyeing each other for moment, before Dmitri turned to go, saying one last thing.

"He has a date tomorrow. You really want to mess that up for simple friendly wink you two shared?"

With that he was out. Sara sat at the bedside, robe and all, and stared down at the foolish flirt besides her. A little annoyed at first, she sighed, bent over, and kissed his forehead, before going over and taking up Dmitri's former bed for the night.

"He is kinda young for me anyway. She better be damn smart though."

* * *

><p> Cyber Sheep Floor 7, 10:00 a.m.

"So you two have been here…"

"The whole night, yes. Why, am I not allowed to see who I wish officer."

"Well it's a tad bit unprofessional ma'am, isn't it? Sleeping with a hotel customer."

"Hey, he came onto me. Besides, he's a legal adult, as am I. I'm not going to fill his complimentary chocolate with soap or anything if things go south between us."

The police officer looked at his partner, who shrugged and pulled him aside to speak in whispers.

"He probably wouldn't know anything; nothing in the kid's history suggest that he knew Durov before they roomed together here. And Durov isn't exactly someone to spill the beans about his hacker nature to some random bloke he won't see again."

Colin emerged from the bathroom, with only a towel on. Turning to see the cops, he waved. The older officer turned to go, convinced he's seen enough. The other one, after Sara had turned around, gave Colin the thumbs up. Colin only nodded in response, then went over and closed the door.

"Well, that happened."

"So they think."

Colin got that he was in some sort of trouble.

"Um look, if Dmitri's told you anything-"

"No, it's fine. Who you see is your business. I did this as a favor to Lucky."

"Well yeah, but I'm sorry if I-"

Sara came up and placed a finger to his lips.

"Look, if you don't treat whoever this girl is right, THEN you and I are going to have a problem. Till then, don't you worry your little head."

Stealing a kiss, she turned and went into the bathroom.

"Better get going. I change and leave the spare key under your pillow."

Smiling a little, he went to change into his usual attire, grabbing his V Pet alongside his phone, and headed outside.

* * *

><p>Times Square 11:50

Asami stood aside from the bustling crowd, against the wall with her headphones plugged in. Of course this Asami appeared very different from the avatar she had in-game. She still had her warm brown eyes, and she still had a little silver necklace, but that's where the similarities ended. Her hair was actually black naturally, not brown dyed-red. They weren't pigtails, just the normal hair you'd expect from a teenage Japanese girl. She was wearing black shorts, and a blue short-sleeved shirt, with a long-sleeved grey shirt underneath. Her blue shirt had an image of a cat wrestling a lion, with the cat winning.

_God, I hope he looks like he does online. I mean sure, I don't but it's not that much of a change. Oh God, I've just asked out some dude I met online. Heck, not even on some dating site, a freaking online game. I one of those people now._

She looked at her watch, showing that it was now 11:56. Now not even sure that he was coming, she got out her fun when someone near her started speaking.

"You ever see it?"

Turning around, she saw an African-American boy dressed in mostly black, with a shirt bearing the Superman 'S' on it and a pair of shoes similar to a certain hedgehog. He had on a silver bracelet, and a key chain on his black cargo shorts. But his face was exactly the same as Colin's, except instead of having on a red wooly hat, Asami could see his cornrows. He turned and smiled at her.

"Hey Asami."

She smiled, putting away her phone and nudging him a bit.

"Colin. You look nothing like your avatar, you creep."

"Me? Look who's talking, miss pigtails. And red hair, really?"

"Like I'm going to take fashion advice from a guy who thinks a red wooly hat looks okay on anyone."

Laughing, they relaxed as they realized this wouldn't be as weird as they had feared.

"So, where would you like to go first?"

"You're the New Yorker, you tell me. What's a nice place to go on a first date?"

_Date huh? It's been a while for me. Hope I don't mess up._

"A friend of mine always said that taking a girl to see an art museum is a classy thing to start off with."

"And what do you think?"

"I think he's full of it, but at least we'd have a starting point."

"I like that. Got one in mind?"

They caught a taxi over to one of the newer museums erected by Grand Central. Colin found a lot of the displays to be weird, even disturbing in a way. Asami understood what the sculptor of one particular piece, one that Colin couldn't face without laughing, was trying to get at, and at first tried to defend the 'Elephant Mounting a Carriage', but found she couldn't form a sentence defending it without laughing.

Leaving the museum rather soon when they found that they could only agree on the worth of a few pieces, there next stop was a Broadway play about a scientist responsible for creating biological weapons. The play mostly focused on his conversations with a friend he makes outside of his work, and their discussions on morality and a man's role on the earth. This Colin and Asami seemed to agree on more.

"That 'Doctor' is an asshole."

"That's putting it mildly."

"So to recap, he's basically an attention whore who, annoyed that his parents, who are brilliant themselves by the way, don't pay as much attention to him as his sickly sister, decides to infect multiple other with whatever super-virus he can so that what? Other parent's can pay more attention to their sick loved ones than their non-sick ones. What was the point of all that."

"I don't think he was actually motivated by that, Colin."

"Well then why take up a…profession, let's call it that, where he can make people sick, after spending a childhood with a very sickly person?"

"I agree he's an attention whore, but I think it's more being noticed for something spectacular than make others suffer as he perceives he has. Deathly sickness is what he knows, so why not work with that?"

"His diner friend is a complete idiot."

"Yeah, I mean if someone has an attitude like Gustav, I'd at least think to myself 'hmm, better let the police know about this wacko. He seems a bit off'."

"A bit, you say? He's completely deranged."

"Did you see how those ushers dragged out the guys that booed when he Gustav killed him?"

"Yeah, glad I kept quiet. I was just about to join them."

* * *

><p>It was about 5:00, and after traveling through various stores and a couple of fast food joints, they came back to the Lion King billboard, smiling all the way.<p>

"So you'll remember to watch those three I told you about right?"

"Yeah yeah, Kamen Rider Kabuto, OOO and W, right?"

"Those are the ones."

Colin paused for moment, trying to think what next to say.

"You know, I've never had a reason to go to a play before."

"You live here, why couldn't you find a reason?"

"Well I usually look after my brother, and when I used to date more, none of the girls where I live are interested in that kind of thing."

"So why not go by yourself?"

"Then who would I share my hate for Gustav with?"

They looked into each others eyes, before Asami said.

"Well the ushers looked like nice guys, I'm sure they'd led an ear."

They both laughed at the thought of those gorillas tossing Colin out with one hand, or at least snoring through half his conversation with them. Neither one of them wanted to look at their watch, but then Asami's phone started to ring.

"Moshi moshi. Hey Keitaro-san. No, I'm out with a friend. Yes, I've already made some….yes he's from online, but he's nice. What? No I'm not just going to send you a picture of him."

"Why not, I'm not shy."

Turing to give him a look, she relented and called over a person to take her phone as she grabbed Colin's arm.

"Smile."

They put their heads together as the fellow took the picture, handing Asami her phone back.

"Thanks. Now sending."

A moment later, the phone rang again.

"Hey Keitaro. Yes, I know he's….Keitaro! No, don't say that. Yes, I know dad's not very understanding but…"

She hung up, and gave Colin an apologetic look.

"Hey, that was my butler. He's watching over me while I'm staying here."

"You have a butler?"

"Right, I only told Dmitri when you were off with Shin. I'm from the Kaneko family."

"Yeah I know your name; you told me when we met."

"No, as in the Kaneko Defensive Technology Corporation family. The ones who-"

"The ones who made those super tanks Japan used to shoot down those errant missiles last year. That Kaneko?"

"Yeah."

"Well what difference does that make? So your loaded, still gonna treat you like the know-it-all you pretend to be."

She didn't playfully shove back, and still looked rather apologetic. Colin still didn't get it.

"What's the problem Asami?"

"If my dad finds out that I…like you, he's going to keep us from seeing each other."

"What, why? How would he even know?"

"Keitaro is bound to tell him. He'll risk his job his he doesn't."

"He doesn't even know me. Why would dating me be a problem?"

"You're not Japanese. He's rather old school that way."

"Well what do you want?"

"Don't. Don't do that. I just met you; I'm not going to mess up my summer over this."

"Well I wouldn't want to be a waste of your time. Sorry for spending a nice day out with you. Later."

"Hey no, wait. Colin!"

He wasn't going to turn around. He felt bad for trying to make some girl he just met choose him, some random dude she's met online, over her father's bigoted views. At least he felt a little bit bad. But he wasn't going to go through that drama crap any more than she seemed willing to.

He was halfway back to the hotel when he started mentally kicking himself in the ass. _You stupid idiot. What was that? You're just going to walk away from likely the most interesting girl you've met your entire life? She likes plays; she thinks she knows something about art. She can stuff down as many burgers as you can. And she hates Ino, Akainu, and Superboy Prime. And you just walk away from that because you don't have the balls to prove to her father that you're worth his daughters time?! Fucking idiot._

His phone started ringing. He quickly looked down and hoped it was Asami. It was Lucky.

"What. Da Fuck. Do You Want?"

"…is this a bad time?"

"Answer me or I hang up."

"Shin needs your help with something."

*Click*

It started ringing again. He let it go. It stopped and started again. He let it go. The third time he nearly tossed it to the ground as he answered.

"What?!"

"Okay look, believe they're sentient or don't. I need your help then."

"And why would I help-"

"You owe me. I didn't have to help you save Maul, but I did. So stuff whatever personal crap you have and pay me back."

"…fine, what does he need help with?"

"Come around back to the hotel kitchens again, and I'll pick you up."

* * *

><p>Cyber Sheep Kitchen Alley, 6:15

The van pulled up around the curb this time, and Colin got in, no fake kidnapping occurring. Once over at Lucky's little den, he came face to face with Dmitri again.

"Thought you'd have skipped town, hacker."

"I see you heard about that. Yeah, well it's best to leave when things cool down a bit, so I'm staying here with Lucky."

Looking around the den, Colin didn't see much to convince him that this was a nice place to stay. Seeing this in his eyes, Dmitri pushed on what was supposed to be a wall, revealing a secret passage like out of a mystery novel. Looking into it, Colin saw a staircase leading upwards, and could hearing a soccer game one of them had left on.

"You okay man?"

"Let's just get what the rabbit wants over with. I'm tired of this whole thing."

"I hear yeah, Lucky going Native hasn't exactly helped has it?"

Colin didn't respond, and Dmitri could see that things between him and Asami were probably not something to bring up at the moment. Lucky finally came from sorting out his van, with his usual cheery look on his face. A mistake on his part.

"So, who's up for an adventure."

"Shut up, plug me in, or I swear I will end you and hide the body."

"Okay, less talking more pluggy, got it."

Sitting down at his terminal, Colin noticed Dmitri opening yet another passageway and pulling out his own VR terminal.

"You're going too?"

"Yeah, I know. I do still hate that hare, but I want to try and end my experience on a high note."

"You're going to hack some."

"What? No, I would nev-Lucky's paying me double."

That still didn't get a reaction out of Colin, who just stuck in his V pet, crammed on his helmet and fell under its effect. Sighing, Dmitri did the same, wondering how this last dive would be.

* * *

><p><span>FA<span>: Last Dive my ass. More to come, whenever they do. Maybe soon, maybe not.


	12. Chapter 12: Boss Rush

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Digimon, Kamen Rider, Really any music made by any person or band/ etc. Be scary if I did, wouldn't it?

FanAuthor's Note: If that whole date scene last chapter wasn't your thing, let me know. I'll try to not have too many of them. Actually, I wasn't really going to do more anyway, but just to be sure. Hell, for all I know maybe you guys loved it, and by the time this Chapter gets out you'll have asked for more. Anyway, back to the Digimon, battles, and general alteration of a series many of us love.

Chapter 12: Boss Rush

* * *

><p>Hyperlink Town

The two Tamers landed without incident (Lucky knowing that it was better for his health if he didn't push it with Colin), and were greeted by the sight of their happy partners. Dmitri was surprisingly a little warmer to his partner, or rather his simple greeting would appear as such compared to Colin's cold unresponsive attitude when Maul tried to hug his leg.

"What's wrong partner?"

Not answering, the boy just headed on into town. Dmitri saw that it was best to just follow, and maybe he'd cool down after a while. A little ways into the town they were greeted by Deputymon (red scarf).

"Hey partner, heard how you helped out at the mine. Great job, thanks."

"Shove it, where's Shin?"

"Well there's no need to be nasty. You're not still mad about-"

"Kumamon, if the next words out of that NPC's mouth aren't about where the Elecmon is, claw his hands off."

Deputymon backed away out of fright, and Dmitri came between the two arms outstretch.

"Okay, that's a bit extreme now, don't you think? How about we just calm down, and-"

"Dmitri, you of all people know that this is just a game. He isn't real, he's just an annoying computer character, one who will likely respawn after whatever abuse I visit upon him. If it's a working NPC, it will quickly give me the stupid mission details I need so that we can find Elecmon, get whatever garbage he wants done over with, and leave. Or are you going native now too?"

Dmitri, seeing that there was no negotiating with Colin in this state, raised his arms in annoyed submission.

"Alright, whatever. Threaten away, my friend."

Maul looked up at Dmitri with a sad, confused look on his face.

"He doesn't really expect me to maul this guy, does he?"

Colin answered before Dmitri could, who was surprised that the Digimon had addressed him at all, as opposed to his own partner.

"It's your name isn't?"

"Okay, what's going on out here?"

Shin came out to see the townsfolk (or Townsmon if you prefer) staring at the Tamers in a frightened, if not defensive manner. Looking around to see if there were any other Tamers he didn't know around, he was confused by this.

"I said what's going on. Why is everyone on edge?"

"Your pal Colin here seems to have had a bug crawl up his ass."

Deputymon quickly regretted phrasing that within earshot of Colin let alone five feet in front of.

"Kumamon, what did I say earlier?"

"But Shin is right the-"

"Are you disobeying me now?"

Not moving at first, the cub relented and jumped at the giant gun barrel on legs.

"**Bear Claw!**"

"**Super Thunder Strike!**"

Knocking Maul out of the air, Shin bounded over in front of Deputymon, while a shocked Maul, didn't really resist and barely made an attempt to get back on his feet. Shin just stared at Colin in disbelief.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm not in the mood for games, that's what. So tell me whatever it is you want me to complete in this very badly constructed one, Elecmon, and I'll be on my way."

Shin couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I thought you were a descent kid. What the hell happened in one day that you would be acting like this?"

"In all fairness, Deputymon isn't exactly the easiest to get along with."

Shin gritted his teeth before shouting.

"Lucky, just shut up! No one needs to deal with you shit right now!"

A nearby Chuchidarumon covered her child's ears.

"Shin!"

"I'll apologize later, but it's appropriate for the situation. Colin, Dmitri, if you're in such a rush to get this all behind you, follow me _please_."

* * *

><p>Abandoned Route

They were about five miles out of town before anyone spoke again. Dmitri couldn't believe that someone else was on Elecmon's bad side. Usually that spot was reserved for him, and he knew he did his part to be put there. _Seriously, what could have happened between Colin and Asami for him to be such an ass right now?_

"So Colin, want to explain why you just tried to sic Maul on someone like he's your own personal attack hound?"

Colin shared Shin's angry look, only his was colder.

"Did I sic him on someone? All I saw was a gun barrel with legs and a stupid cowboy accent."

Shin started to glow green, but then Dmitri did something he never expected he'd do. He tried to calm down Elecmon.

"Look, he had this date with Asami today, and I'm guessing that it went south. He's like 17, boys are more emotional about that sort of thing than we like to let on."

"Who the fuck asked you for your opinion?!"

"Look, whatever is bugging you, can you just say it and get it done with."

"What's there to say, she won't be with me, or give me a chance because daddy-dearest is a racist old fuck. We done digging into the personal life of Colin Ursa, or are we not going to slay the Jabberwockymon and free Never land?"

Shin had had quite enough.

"**Lightning Knife!**"

"**Bear Claw!**"

Maul did his best to swat away as many knives as he could, taking one to the chest so as to keep it from hurtling towards Colin. He just stood there unfazed, and only Candlemon seemed to notice his eyes were glowing a little purple.

"Maul, do not defend this guy. Get out of my way."

"Look Shin, I don't know what's going on, but just give him some time to cool off. I don't think Colin means anything he's saying right now."

"Yes Maul, you never really do get what's going on, do you? Well here's the easy, dumb, low-down version for you. Your Tamer is an ass. Some girl rejects him, and he starts acting out so as to grab attention."

Maul started to tear up, but fought against it. Candlemon looked shocked and sad in his own, silent way. Even Dmitri found that unnecessarily harsh. Granted, Dmitri liked arguing with Elecmon anyway.

"Hey, come on now. No need to get nasty too."

"Oh what do you care, 'Scarlet'. I'm just an avatar to you, remember? Just some MAGAMI employee who's too into his role, pretending he's a Digimon. Well Digimon fight, isn't that right Colin? So you want to know what the mission is."

Now Dmitri could see something was up with Colin's eyes, and after seeing what Candlemon was looking at, he saw that Elecmon's were acting up too.

"Oh please, I'm in no rush. I'm obviously here to have fun, frolic in the flowers, watch pixels bash against each other as if their fights have any meaning."

"Well if you want a meaningless fight, Tamer scum, then you got one."

Dmitri raised an eyebrow at this. _Tamer scum? Isn't that what those Orgemon Brothers are always calling us?_

**-WARNING: ANOMALY DIGIVOLVING! TAKE CARE!-**

Elecmon…digivolve to…**Leomon! Rawr!**

Towering over Kumamon, Shin stared down at him in fury.

"Digivolve and fight me!"

Maul wiped away some lingering tears as he faced the angry lion.

"Shin, I don't want to fight you."

"That makes one of us. You don't get the choice."

Dmitri had had enough of Colin's attitude, even his treatment of Kumamon.

"Okay wait a second here guys, let's not get-"

**Digi-Modify: Digivolution Activate!**

"-carried away here. Great."

Initially fighting the change, Maul was forced to give in as the data egg covered him.

Kumamon…digi-digivolve to…**Grizzlymon!**

Emerging from the egg, he still backed away, not wanting to fight Shin in the slightest. The purple-eyed lion didn't feel the same way.

"**Fist of the Beast-**"

"I'm going to admit, I have thought of siccing Candlemon on you before-"

**Digi-Modify: Digivolution Activate!**

Candlemon looked at Dmitri in shock, but Dmitri tried to give him a reassuring look as he continued speaking.

"-but not like this. There's something off here, so you guys need to cool down."

Candlemon…digivolve to…**Meramon!**

"Dmitri, what are you doing?"

"Meramon, get between these two, while I try to figure out what's-"

He suddenly fell to the ground, nursing a sore jaw where Colin had just landed an uppercut. He got to his feet, and quickly dodged out of the way of another lunge, only to find himself being tripped up and seeing a leg about to come crashing down on him like an axe. Rolling out of the way, he came face to face with an angry Colin, who was raising his hands up like an experience fighter.

"Okay, where'd you learn to move like that?"

"You think you're the only one that has secrets, _Scarlet_?"

"Okay fine, I didn't tell you I was a hacker. Are you going to get angry about that too?"

"Who's angry, _Scarlet?!_"

He charged, and while Dmitri was able to grab him for a moment, he felt Colin's knee connect with his rib, twice, before letting go and receiving and elbow to his chin, sending him falling backwards and forcing him to roll to safety again. _Who knew he could be this tough. Jesus!_

"What's there to be angry about? I only had a fucking wanted hacker for a roommate for two days, who couldn't be bothered to tell me that. Let's just ignore the fact that one of the most awesome people I've had the pleasure of meeting won't even try to be with me because she's afraid of upsetting daddy! Who the fuck needs dads, all they do is treat your mom like crap and ditch you and the entire family for some hot piece of ass that strolls on by, then tell you that you're all a distraction from his _**real work**_, and that he needs 'space' from our crap! Fuck all of you!"

"Okay, clearly you have some unresolved anger issues. As your friend, I am more than willing to hear you out and let you rant, but you have got-"

He caught a punch aimed for his head, and countered with a rib punch.

"-to stop-"

Dmitri kicked Colin straight in the stomach, sending him flying backwards.

"-HITTING ME!"

Colin nursed his stomach for a while, as Dmitri saw that Meramon and Grizzlymon were having a hard time preventing Shin from roasting Grizzlymon. Dmitri decided it was time to call in help.

"Lucky, are you still there?"

"Has Shin stopped being scary?"

"Be serious for a damn second Lucky! Can you check what's going on with Shin and Colin?"

"You mean other than them both being irritable?"

"Yes idiot, other than that."

Dmitri realized he had to go back to focusing on blocking and countering Colin's attacks, which became harder to do as Colin seemed to become more vicious the angrier he got. And he kept getting angrier every time Dmitri successfully countered him. Lucky spoke up while Dmitri was in the middle of avoiding a roundhouse kick.

"Okay, you're not going to believe this, but I believe Colin's heart has been corrupted."

"Oh for the love of god, enough with the 'gone-native' bull-"

"No seriously, the readings are showing something, I'm guessing a Digimon, messing with Colin and Shin's emotions. Any negative feelings they've had, if they were serious enough, are being augmented. Didn't you say that on your first day of playing a Shamanmon messed with your group?"

"Well yeah, but didn't-ack, stop it- didn't Colin and Asami handle those clowns?"

"Well she handled their boss, but there's still Orgemon, and he could have acquired whoever's left in the gang under his service. Didn't Shamanmon have some sort of mystical powers or shit?"

"Lucky, I'm going to say this once. This is a game. It's not real."

"Okay, and I'll say this once, so your puny mind can handle it. In games, does magic never exist, or are you not playing a game where your partner is a **hopping candle**?"

"Fine, point taken. Meramon!"

Clasping the edge of Leomon's sword in his hands, Meramon looked his Tamer's way.

"Burn the bushes, there's likely an annoying Shamanmon there."

"No don't burn the bushes. Ignore me."

Meramon looked at Dmitri with a knowing looked, and pushing aside Leomon's blade he aimed a hand at the bushes.

"**Fireball!**"

As the bushes glowed like the a beautiful bonfire, a roaring Shamanmon jumped out of them, clasping his behind as a little bit of fire could be seen nicking it.

"How did you know I wasn't him?"

"You mean besides the obvious order reversal? We've already dealt with that shit once. So second chapter."

Shin stopped trying to wail on Maul, and Dmitri relaxed and Colin paused mid-haymaker and saw what he was just about to do. Everyone's attention then turned to the unfortunate Shamanmon.

"…I'm so very boned, aren't I?"

"**Fist of the Beast King!**"

Meramon jumped in front of the attack, to which Shin gave him a very annoyed look.

"What are you doing?"

"We need to ask him a few questions before you roast him."

The Shamanmon looked defiant after his hide had just been spared.

"Why should I tell you anything if you're going to kill me anyway."

Suddenly, Grizzlymon pounced on Shamanmon, and he growled angrily as he dragged his claws across its belly.

"Because if you don't, we'll just make your deletion slower. You just made my partner very nasty, and forced Shin to attack. So either you talk, and he takes you out quickly, or you keep your mouth shut, and I have my way with you. Your choice."

He breathed those last to words down hard on Shamanmon's face, who whimpered pathetically.

"Alright, alright; what is it you want to know."

They all turned toward Dmitri, who came up to a rock nearby and sat on it as he addressed the prisoner.

"Why did you attack us? Wasn't your boss taken out already?"

Starting to snarl, but after a mean look from Grizzlymon made him think otherwise, the Shamanmon replied.

"Well as our gang's name implies, we're all really Ogremon's crew, we just followed his brothers when they were around. Now that they're gone, he's calling all the shots."

"Okay, now for my next question. What is it exactly that you want?"

The Shamanmon stared at him in confusion.

"What do you mean what do we want?"

"Why are you attacking other Digimon? Tamers I can understand, you're programed to be the standard enemy we meant to fight as we progress, but twice now me and my friends have seen your gang attack a school of Gomamon, and enslave a town to dig out some old ship, if what Lucky tells me is right."

He snorted at this.

"What do you care? I heard the others, you're one to the many who view our world as just a game. Think of it as background entertainment, stuff to get your bullshit hero vibe going. 'Oh, look at the poor Gomamon, too much of a wimp to play rough with the big Shamanmon'-"

Maul pressed down with on claw, digging under one of Shamanmon's kneecaps to silence him. The Shamanmon yelped and got the message, adjusting his sentence to a more 'polite' manner.

"Alright I'm sorry, quit it. Look, what do you want? I don't like weak Digimon, nor does the rest of the gang. What does it matter to you, you'll just delete us to feed your pet and give you extra attacks to stock up on."

"I want to know what you wanted with that ship."

"Why, planning a vacation?"

Maul's crescent mark on his head started to glow, and Shamanmon started sweating.

"…it's to take us off this crummy island."

Shin closed his eyes, having suspected as much. Dmitri was having a hard time believing that.

"You want to leave the island?"

"That's what ships are for. Yes, we want to leave. Not all of us want to just sit here and wait to be deleted by some punk 'player'."

Dmitri gave the Digimon a curious look, before continuing.

"One last question. Answer nicely and maybe we might even let you go. Where's Ogremon?"

The Shamanmon didn't answer, so Maul applied more pressure by biting his midsection. Though in pain, the Shamanmon didn't give the appropriate response.

"Up yours, Baloo; I'm not ratting out the boss!"

"Fine then; Leomon, have fun."

Tossing the Shamanmon up in air, Maul got out of the way as Shin was finally allowed to fire an attack no one would block.

"**Fist of the Beast King!**"

* * *

><p>Dmitri found that even though they had figured out who the culprit was for the nastiness earlier, the five of them were awkwardly quiet, not sure what to say next. This was probably due to the fact that no one could tell how much of the malicious they had thrown at one another was artificially strengthened by Shamanmon, and how much was natural. Dmitri couldn't be sure if it was only when he and Candlemon noticed that their eyes were glowing purple, or if the Shamanmon had been tailing and influencing them since they touched down in Hyperlink Town. Colin kept staring at his hands, while Shin faced away from all of them. Maul was sitting away from everyone, still sobbing a bit. Dmitri got tired of the whole thing, and stood up from his rock in annoyance.<p>

"Oh come you guys, get over it. Colin, it doesn't matter if it was a Shamanmon that messed with your head, you were in a bad place and we rushed you to play. We're sorry for that. Or at least Elecmon should be. And Elecmon-"

He turned towards Shin, who was still facing away.

"…Shin, I hear you lost a friend recently. So obviously you have some baggage too. Are we really just going to mope around here when we could be doing something? Colin, you're here to play for your brother, Jack right? Sure, you're doing it illegally now, but come on; you're supposed to be having fun for the both of you. So try to get it together and do so."

Colin looked up at his friend a weak smile spreading across his face.

"My God you're corny. Did you just try to give a rousing speech?"

Shin was not as amused.

"I just tried to kill a rookie I was responsible for reviving. I don't care if neither of you believe we're sentient or not, could we not joke around and laugh as if nothing happened."

"Shin, he didn't mean to kill you."

"Didn't I, Dmitri."

Dmitri massaged his brow as he felt where this was going.

"Please don't start what I think you going to."

"Like you said, I'm not happy about being here right now."

"Then leave," interrupted Shin, still not looking their way.

"I might just."

Maul started to shimmer a bit where he sat, and Candlemon could see him shrinking a bit.

"Okay, both of you stop it. I know I suck at pep talks, but how about we try to keep it together for a least the rest of today. Shin, what's the plan for today?"

"You think because now you've started to call me by my name we're friends now?"

"No, I'm not pretending that I would ever be friends with you. It's called being mature and working with people, even if you dislike them greatly."

Now Shin smiled a little, though it was sourer than Colin's.

"So you're still working, are you?"

"Like you didn't already know. Please, why else would I be here?"

"Then do please tell me, why do you need me or even Colin around for your job?"

"Well I find that I like hanging with Colin, noob that he may be-"

"Fuck you."

"-and as for you, you're like a less annoying map as compared to Lucky. That and I figured that any trouble we would meet would likely target a partner-less anomaly like you before bothering with me."

"Oh gee, thanks Dmitri. It feels so nice to be wanted."

Dmitri returned the sarcastic banter with a smile.

"Not a problem.

Candlemon started to tug at Dmitri's pants, and pointed in the direction of a depressed looking Wanyamon. Dmitri realized that something was still wrong and got Colin's attention.

"Uh Colin, your partner doesn't look too good. You might want to take care of it."

Turning around, Shin saw what was going on with Maul at the same time Colin became aware. They both rushed over to the Digimon, Colin scooping the little guy into his arms.

"Hey Maul, why'd you de-digivolve?"

"Why are you being such a jerk?"

"…I'm sorry Maul; I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I was in a really bad mood, but I shouldn't have let it affect me that way."

"I'm sorry too Maul. You're not stupid; in fact that describes us more."

The little furball nuzzled in closer to Colin, who looked down at him with guilt spread across his face. Dmitri scratched the back of his head, trying to think of something to change the topic.

"Maybe we should head back to town and cool off there before we start anything. There are shops in town for Tamers, right Shin?"

He nodded, before turning around towards the town.

"Yeah, I think we should all clear our heads a bit before charging off. That and you guys really should resupply your D-Arcs before trying to take on Orgemon."

"How bad is he, compared to his brothers?"

"He's the center of their nastiness. Trust me; the sooner he's deleted the better."

* * *

><p>Hyperlink Town

Arriving back to a crowd of surprised faces, the five tried to avoid everyone they didn't need to see as they made their way to the town bazaar. There, Shin directed the two Tamers to a stall run by a Togemon.

"Howdy there, what can I get you folks?"

Colin went first, setting Maul down on the stall. Before he could speak though, Lucky spoke in his head again.

"Uh hey there, before you go and try to buy something, let me give you some bits."

"Why, I still got some left over from before?"

"Actually, since you 'died', you got nothing. And as an illegal, the only way for you to get bits is for me to activate my own personal cheat codes for you."

"Shouldn't I get bits from each Digimon Maul takes out?"

"Again, you're illegal now. I can't have you drawing actual money from the game, it'll draw attention.

"But you creating fake money won't?"

"Oddly enough no, at least MAGAMI hasn't been able to detect this so far."

When Colin didn't reply with a nasty comment, Lucky was almost startled.

"What, no jab at Lucky for doing something illegal? Are you feeling okay Colin?"

"Just give me my allowance already."

Laughing and doing so, Colin looked down and saw that he had been given 10,000 bits. _That'll last quite a while._ Looking back at the Togemon, who was looking at him curiously, he tried to explain.

"Sorry, a friend of mine was wiring me money. So what do you have for me today?"

Smiling, the giant cactus opened up a carpet, revealing multiple weapons and items.

"Well for your Kumamon, I got an assortment of gauntlets and fists. I also have the usual charges and codes, though if you're going to be taking on Orgemon, I suggest Super Charges. They're about 200 each."

Looking at the different gauntlets, Colin asked Maul for his opinion.

"What do you think buddy, you're going to be wearing them."

Still not completely okay after what had happened earlier, Wanyamon didn't look up at Colin as he bounced over to each glove, checking them out. Coming across a pair with the image of a bull's skull strapped to each, he pointed his tail at that one. Togemon held it up and smiled at it.

"Ah, the Matador's Bane, that's an excellent choice. That'll be 500 bits for this piece."

Buying 6 Power Charges, 4 Super Charges, 10 Weak Codes, and the Matador's Gloves, Colin scooped up Wanyamon and stepped aside so that Dmitri could go.

"What do you have in terms of firearms?"

Bringing out another carpet, Togemon sprawled out an assortment of guns, some more sci-fi looking than the last. But Dmitri immediately saw which one he wanted.

"We'll take the musket."

The Togemon smiled warmly.

"I was just about to recommend that one, as it suits your partner's type perfectly. It'll be a little useless when he's Meramon, but more than a little useful as he is now."

Buying the same amount of supplies as Colin, Dmitri took the musket data and was turning to go, when the Togemon started to say something else.

"Oh, before I forget, there's a Clockmon down the way who can repair any damaged card data you gotten so far, and even rework it into a weapon card if you like.

"What do you mean, 'rework it'?"

"Well there was this girl earlier, who was saying how here Gururumon card wasn't working, and I mentioned how Clockmon could change the data into a sword based on Gururumon instead."

Both of the boys became more alert due to this information, with Colin's mood getting a little sour.

"Was this girl partnered with a Kotemon, by chance?"

"Why yes, do you know her?"

"Yeah, she's a friend. Did she mention where she was going?"

The Togemon gave Dmitri a weird look.

"Why the same place all the other Tamer's are headed, to confront Ogremon."

Dmitri had to keep from smacking himself for asking such an obvious question. Then he realized he had a better one.

"Do you know where Ogremon is?"

"If I did, I would be sending young ones like you to go face him. But I do hear that he likes swamps. And Digimon claiming to work for him have been hanging around Infinity Mountain."

_Well that's not too hard to miss._

"Dmitri, you do realize that I know where to find Ogremon, right?"

He turned to see Shin below him, giving him an annoyed look (as usual).

"You didn't say anything earlier when I was questioning Ogremon."

"I had other things on my mind then, if you remember."

Choosing not to fall into his usual pattern of arguing with him, Dmitri thanked the Togemon and motioned for Shin to lead on.

"Well let's get going, don't want to be left behind now do we?"

Rolling his eyes, Shin took them back the way they had rushed earlier, this time hopefully without any tailing enemy Digimon.

* * *

><p>Mid Abandoned Route

Having gone further than when they had started fighting earlier, the Tamers and partner Digimon were taking in the dark scenery of the path Shin was leading them down. Shin was busy blasting away bushes and branches that were baring their way. Maul was still in Wanyamon form, though he seemed less sad than he was before. Colin seemed to be in thought, barely watching his steps as he went.

_Okay, so Asami is in front of us. That's fine, no reason to make a good deal out of it. Besides, I should be more concerned with getting Maul to take out the last Ogremon Brother himself._

Something just occurred to Colin then.

"Hey Shin, do you happen to know who Ogremon's lieutenants are?"

Dmitri and Shin both smiled, having thought the same thing.

"You noticed that huh? That the other's had right hand mon's and all? Well from what I heard yesterday, there's a Thundermon leading a patrol of Goblimon somewhere around here."

"**High Jumping Kick!**"

"Spike Punch."

"**Thunderball!**"

Coming to the edge of the woods they had entered, the five poked their heads out to see a whole bunch of Tamers with their partners, fighting a large horde of Goblimon, as well as Thundermon and a Tuskmon down in a valley that led into a small crack in the mountain.

"I think we found your patrol, Shin."

Colin spotted the Tamer they had confronted on their way to Mirror Lake, his Kiwimon having been restored from its egg from before. Dmitri didn't see anyone he recognized until…

"Tamer Queen is here, so get out of the way! Labramon, take them out!"

"Complying. Retribark."

A score of Goblimon grabbed at their ears, and shrieked in pain as the supersonic wave engulfed them. Some managed to fire back.

"**Gobli Bomb!**"

Multiple spike balls exploded in front of Labramon, causing it to retreat back to reduce the damage it took. Dmitri sighed from up at their hiding place. Colin gave him a look.

"What's wrong with you?"

"That idiot Reiko is here."

"Who's Reiko?"

"The chick with the green anime drill hair. Over there, next to the dog Digimon."

Spotting the girl, who was jumping up and down excitedly as Labramon barked at another group of foes, Colin immediately saw why Dmitri disliked her.

"You should have seen Asami near her, she looked like she was about to have DinoHyumon take off her head."

Colin smiled a bit at that, before hearing something familiar.

"**Lizard Dance!**"

"**Horn Buster!**"

They saw DinoHyumon clashing with Tuskmon, who was countering the lizard man's blades with his glowing tusks. Colin spotted Asami not to far away, trying to ignore the looks Reiko and the Kiwimon Tamer were giving her.

"I don't think those two are going to be playing fair for long."

Dmitri nodded, before reaching for three cards and jumping into the fray, Candlemon quickly following.

**Digi-Modify: Digivolution Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Woodmon (2x) Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Gasoline Activate!**

Colin sweatdropped as he heard Dmitri's choices.

"Starting off a bit strong, aren't we?"

Candlemon…digivolve to…**Meramon!**

Meramon started his typical flaming rook strategy, launching the burning Woodmon clones as he blasted nearby Goblimon with enhanced fireballs caused by the gasoline.

"**Fireball!**"

Colin wasn't about to be left behind, but wanted to check on Maul first.

"You still mad at me?"

Maul looked at him for a moment, before shaking his head.

"Just don't be such a jerk again, okay?"

"Promise. Now let's kick some tail!"

"On it!"

Sliding down the ledge, he slid two cards of his own. Wanyamon digivolved by his own power before Colin's card took effect.

Wanyamon…digivolve to…**Kumamon.**

**Digi-Modify: Digivolution Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Wild Gloves Equipped!**

"Colin, what the HELL are you doing?!"

Colin clasped his head as Lucky's irritated voice rang around it.

Kumamon…digivolve to…**Grizzlymon! Hah!**

"What's your deal, Lucky?!"

"What did I tell you about being around other Tamer's?! You're not supposed to be seen right now!"

"Oh crap, sorry, but-"

"You do realize that if any of them report you, you have got to run. I mean leave the hotel, on-the-run-from-the-police type of 'on the run'!"

Colin made a mental note not to be in a situation where Lucky is right again. Though he felt his scolding was a bit of karma for all the abuse he had voiced at Lucky.

Maul came charging up to Tuskmon, literally tackling him with his attack.

"**Maul Attack!**"

Surprising and greatly wounding the Digimon, Maul was greeted by a playful smack to his head from DinoHyumon.

"Nice to see you, but why are you butting into my fight?"

"Yeah, especially when you should be concentrating on me. **Thunderbolt!**"

Thundermon raised himself high above the battlefield, and then launched a stream of electricity, striking both DinoHyumon and Grizzlymon before going after the other partner Digimon. As DinoHyumon started to rise, he felt a familiar attack strike him from behind.

"Sun's Courage."

Having enough strength to roll out of the way as another barrage flew past, DinoHyumon tried to ignore the solar arrows embedded in his back as he faced the approaching Seasarmon. Asami shouted at Reiko, not even bothering to hide her anger.

"What the hell Reiko, can't you see we got bigger problems right now than you ego?"

"What ego? This is about the hit still out on you, remember?"

"What are you talking about?"

The Kiwimon Tamer approached, sounding quite interested by this. Grizzlymon started to move to DinoHyumon's side, before Tuskmon got back at him for earlier.

"**Slamming Tusk!**"

The name of the attack is purposely misleading, and Maul found out when a flaming punch connected with his face as opposed to the obvious tusks he was readying himself to engage. Sent flying back a few feet, Grizzlymon picked himself up as he stared down Tuskmon.

"So that's what it feels like. Let's see if you can try that again."

Meramon was doing as well as you'd expect from him at this point, deleting and absorbing Goblimon foolish enough to get close. Thundermon was not as ready to die as his rapidly disappearing forces.

"Let's see how well you work with a moving target, Meramon!"

The fire man smiled, not put off by the challenge.

**Digi-Modify: Flymon Activate!**

Thundermon smacked himself as he realized he had just brought more trouble upon himself. Meramon was now soaring to engage him directly, smiling until he came trapped between two familiar arms from another attack.

"**Coral Crusher!**"

As two watery squid appendages grabbed ahold of him, Meramon looked down and saw that Kiwimon was again sporting the watery body parts it had used the last time they fought.

"Oh this is going to suck.'

"**Pummel Peck!**"

As Meramon was blasted by mini-Kiwimon, the bird's Tamer laughed and pointed a finger at Dmitri, a nasty look in his eyes.

"I can't tell you how happy I am to pay you back for before. Do you know how long it took to get Floramon back to this level?"

Dmitri gave a smile back, which unnerved the other Tamer.

"Clearly you didn't train hard enough."

**Digi-Modify: Bakemon Activate!**

Meramon phased out to the grasp of the watery hands, as his own hands where replaced by white sheets.

"**Zombie Claw!**"

Black undead hands shot out and slashed at Kiwimon's water arms, though they reformed immediately afterwards. As the two launched attacks at each other, Thundermon took the opportunity to attack while he was being ignored.

"**Zombie Claw!**"

"**Coral Crusher!**"

"**Thunderball!**"

Striking Kiwimon's Gesomon arms, the electrified water ran back into Kiwimon at the same time it struck Meramon. Kiwimon got the worst of it, having been struck by the 'Zombie Claw' attack at the same time as having its own arms electrified.

"**Crescent Dawn!**"

"**Horn Buster!**"

Running through Maul's energy slash, though with visible discomfort, Tuskmon slammed into Maul with his energized tusks and lifted him up, smacking him into a tree. Colin had had enough of this distraction, wanting to get this fight over with and find Ogremon.

**Digi-Modify: Frigimon Activate!**

Getting the idea, Maul waited for Tuskmon to come charging at him again. Of course, he gave the Digimon incentive to try it once more.

"Is that all you got, you ugly salamander?"

Snorting in anger, Tuskmon fell for it.

"I'm going to enjoy shutting you up. **Horn Buster!**"

"**Subzero Ice Punch!**"

Blasting Tuskmon with a wintery gale, the charging beast came to a stop right before Maul. He didn't waste any time, not wanting another Digimon to steal his win.

"**Maul Attack!**"

Slicing through Tuskmon with his red energized claws, Maul gratefully absorbed his data as Colin caught the card as it flew to him. He then realized his mistake, as he had managed to spend the battle mostly unnoticed, before Grizzlymon took out Tuskmon. Now the other Tamers were sizing him up in the middle of the battle royal.

"Oh this is bad."

"Spike Punch."

Having figured out what Colin was worried about, Maul leapt out of the way as a RedVegimon tried his luck at taking him out. His tamer was reading something on his D-Arc, before turning to face Colin.

"It says here that you shouldn't still have that Digimon, and that you're even out of the game. You're a freaking hacker!"

The other Tamers attention was now fully on Colin, and Dmitri had to hide a sigh of relief when he realized they weren't talking about him. Not that he wasn't going to help his buddy out, though.

"Meramon."

"Yeah, I know. **Magma Blast!**"

Showering anymon that wasn't DinoHyumon or Grizzlymon with lava, Meramon tried to focus his attack mostly on the Kiwimon he was still fighting off, as well as Thundermon. Those two were unfortunately the most prepared for an attack, and managed to escape most of it. The Kiwimon was not doing so well at this point, and its Tamer rushed over to tend to it.

"Kiwimon! Are you okay?!"

"I really hate those guys," was all it could manage to say between pained breaths. Both Reiko and the RedVegimon Tamer noticed this.

"Hey, his Digimon can speak too."

"He must be another hacker. This valley is freaking full of cheating assholes!"

Not liking the idea of being called a cheat, Dmitri retorted back.

"Hey, we just got our Digimon this way. We didn't cheat, and the only assholes here are the ones attacking people who can actually take out a lieutenant Digimon. Back off, unless you want to start over from Primary Village."

The Kiwimon Tamer glared at him, but Dmitri didn't so much as glance at him.

"I was defending my friends and me, not you. I'll send you back too if you keep it up."

Reiko wasn't going to let Dmitri deter her from elevating herself over other Tamers. Motioning Seasarmon to disengage from fighting DinoHyumon, she pointed at Maul, Meramon and Kiwimon.

"We got other targets, Seasarmon. Make mama proud."

"Complying. Sun's Courage."

As the arrows came raining down towards the three, Colin just scoffed and spoke to Maul.

"Yeah no. Maul, take care of that."

"Gladly. **Subzero Ice Punch!**"

Fizzing out a number of arrows, Maul saw that not all of them were going to stop. Meramon managed to evade those aiming for him, but Kiwimon was still in danger.

"**High Jumping Kick!**"

Leaping over the arrows entirely, as they came closer to it, Kiwimon came down on the still in mid-air Seasarmon with its talons clawing at its back. Reiko pouted as her Digimon took damage. The RedVegimon Tamer laughed, before sending his in.

"Stinky Jet."

Spraying a green gas cloud at the two descending Digimon, the other combatants could see that both Kiwimon and Seasarmon were being harmed by the gas, which seemed to be poisonous. Reiko turned and shouted at the other Tamer.

"Hey, I thought we were on the same side!"

"Well you though wrong. It's survival of the fittest, chicka."

"I couldn't agree more, soft-skin."

Looking around the Tamer couldn't find who had said that, but Colin, Dmitri and Asami had a good idea who it was. DinoHyumon spotted him first, and pointed upwards.

"He's up there, on that nest sticking out."

Sure enough, everyone, from the surviving Goblimon to the wounded Kiwimon could see a rather smug looking Goblimon, perched on a large nest up high on the mountain, though nowhere near the top of it. It suddenly leapt, and all the D-Arcs shouted the same thing.

**-WARNING: ANOMALY DIGIVOLVING! TAKE CARE!-**

Goblimon…digivolve to…**Ogremon! Muhaha!**

Creating a crater as he landed, the original, green ogre Digimon smiled menacingly at his 'audience'.

"Well, what do we have here? A pack of traitor Digimon at each other's throats, a couple of soulless abominations, and what's this?"

His eye caught sight of Shin in the woods, and laughed as he continued.

"An 'anomaly' elder here to greet me? Oh what a pleasant day it is. Now where are my brothers, they should be here to see this. All these nasty soft-skin humans, they'd get a kick out of seeing you broken and beaten. Tell me, have any of you seen them lately?"

Both Asami and Dmitri's D-Arcs started to glow involuntarily, shining blue and orange respectively for the Tamer whose partner slayed Hyogamon and Fugamon. Ogremon's cheery expression remained, however.

"Oh no, it would appear that these two have snuffed my brothers. That is unfortunate."

He smiled with closed eyes, patting his bone club in one hand as he did. The remaining Goblimon started to laugh a little, away from their boss. DinoHyumon clenched his blades tightly, but was then surprised by Ogremon's sudden appearance in front of him.

"For you. **Pummel Whack!**"

Dark energy from Ogremon's fist sent DinoHyumon rocketing into a nearby boulder. The force was so strong that DinoHyumon didn't move for a few minutes after being struck. He would regret having not at least rolling out of the way.

"**Bone Cudgel!**"

Ogremon started to beat down on DinoHyumon, who found that he was barely able to block some of the blows with his knives. Asami quickly tried to aid him, as Grizzlymon and Meramon ran over to do the same.

**Digi-Modify: Ronin Blade Equipped!**

**Digi-Modify: Power Activate!**

"**Maul Attack!**"

"**Zombie Claw!**"

Ogremon smacked the two of them aside with a simple turn before returning to wailing on DinoHyumon, who even with his favorite blade and power boost was barely able to keep up with Ogremon's attacks. Reiko saw an opportunity to get back at Asami, and took it.

"Seasarmon!"

"Complying. Sekkantou."

The Golden Walls of Data appeared around Ogremon and DinoHyumon and Seasarmon leapt up into the air and targeted them. Ogremon stopped what he was doing and turned to face Reiko, not Seasarmon.

"You dare, send you piece of filth, to attack me? You thought this would work on me, as I bet it did with one of my brothers?"

"Hey, you're a virus type, just like Hyogamon. What are you going to do, convert or something?"

"No. Thundermon."

"Yes boss?"

"You boys continue attacking, but target that girl first. I'll be done here in a moment."

Asami did not like where this was going. Neither did Reiko, though for different reasons.

"What do you mean target 'that girl fir-'?"

"**Thunderbolt!**"

"**Gobli Bomb!**"

"**Gobli Bomb!**"

"**Gobli Bomb!**"

Reiko found that she had to dodge multiple lighting attacks, as well as exploding spike balls. The other Tamers came under assault as well, most of the other players hiding behind their partners. A couple of spikes clipped Reiko's legs, and she fell to the ground in pain, shocked that she could feel any. Colin saw it happen and for a moment sympathized with her; though seeing the look on Dmitri's face as he was looking at her reminded him that his friends didn't like her.

As she tried to get back on her feet, Thundermon hovered over her, charging up a rather large ball of electricity.

"Bye bye, little Tamer. **Thunderb-**"

"**Fist of the Beast King!**"

Blasting Thundermon away, Shin came up to Reiko, extending a paw out as he did. Asami, Dmitri and Colin were shocked by this, but Shin gave them a reassuring look before helping the girl up.

"Reiko, I'm going to need you to bring down the barrier trapping DinoHyumon and Ogremon."

She looked like she was going to argue for a moment, but the stern look Shin gave her, coupled by her pain and her general thanks for being saved, even if most of her felt she wasn't in any real danger, she nodded.

"Seasarmon, disengage."

Complying, as usual, the barrier came down. DinoHyumon looked like he was on his last ropes, and Leomon didn't waste a second running to his aid.

"**Beast Sword!**"

"**Bone Cudgel!**"

Renewing his attack, Ogremon spun around to engage Shin, DinoHyumon rolling away the moment he did. Asami came over to nurse his head, and Ogremon started bantering with Shin.

"Really? You versus me? A Leomon fighting a Ogremon? How clichéd can you get?"

"Would you prefer we hold a debate and lob political insults at one another?"

"Nah, you're right. This is technically better. Although-"

"Although what?"

"**Black Saber!**"

From out of nowhere, a black Birdramon-like Digimon came rocketing down and struck Shin with its burning talons. The flame on the talons was black, and as it struck Shin he cried out in pain.

"-I'm not really one for tradition. And my supervisor here doesn't like to take chances."

Colin recognized the body, if not the color of the Digimon from when Jack used to make him watch the anime with him.

"Isn't that Birdramon? Why is she fighting us?"

Asami corrected him, as she supplied DinoHyumon with a Power Charge.

"That's Saberdramon, same level but nastier. We need to get into the woods, now!"

The RedVegimon Tamer started to protest, and other Tamers laughed at the idea as well.

"Hey, the rest of us are doing fine. Why should we run?!"

Saberdramon, still pinning Shin to the ground, turned its head to look at the assembled group of Tamers. As it extended its wings, Asami shouted again, obviously more for Colin and Dmitri's benefit, her warning.

"Don't question, just run!"

"**Night's Roar!**"

Now to the ignorant Tamer, as most of those assembled there were, a black version of Birdramon's 'Meteor Wing' would not seem any scarier than any other fire attack. But the fire here was black, and unlike how Birdramon normally fights, Saberdramon was on the ground, at the same level as the Tamers and their partners. The flames would spread farther, and hit more being closer.

With the last bit of juice left in their previous cards, Maul and Meramon shielded themselves and their partners from most of the attack, but were sent flying because of the force of the flapping and landed in the middle of the forest behind them. The Kiwimon similarly still had its Gesomon power, but the watery hands could only protect it so much in its current state. Asami had used her Stamina card to perk up DinoHyumon, and they had leapt out of most the attack behind another boulder. As they got up, they could see multiple Tamers barely standing and trying to pick themselves up. Then they noticed a bigger problem. The majority of the space behind them was swamp, quicksand and all. And some of the others had been knocked back there. The Tamers' whose partners were deleted by the attack didn't have to worry about it, but Asami could see plenty who struggling to free themselves.

"Guys, we got a problem."

Realizing she was speaking to them, Dmitri got up and dusted himself off.

"You mean besides the oversized chicken that just smacked us aside like a bunch of noobs?"

"We got a swamp behind us, so if it attacks again, we're going to either get injured or find ourselves sinking to our deaths."

Not bothering to correct her, as he knew they'd just booted if they're Digimon get deleted or if they're personal hit points are depleted, Dmitri saw that she was right. Colin was busy thinking of their other problem.

_Shin's pinned down, and Ogremon is clearly stronger than either of his brothers. I see why Togemon said I'd need more health Charges, that guy is a tank. Okay, what can I do?_

Having already used his Frigimon card and Wild Gloves, Colin still had plenty of options left to him. However, he knew that just spamming cards and hoping for the best isn't going to cut it. He'd have to actually have a strategy laid out.

_Ogremon doesn't seem to have many weaknesses, just frightening strengths. He got really angry at DinoHyumon for killing one of his brothers, and just kept wailing on the guy. He was so fast DinoHyumon couldn't even get out of the way or counter._

He looked at his trusty Hyper Speed card.

_There has to be more than that. Just this one card won't do. Okay, what else? If Hyper Speed lets Maul surpass, or at least keep up with Ogremon, that's a good thing, but how can I use that? With Power Strike and the new gauntlets, he might have enough power to match him, but I need more than that. Let's see._

He was about to review two other cards, but the sound of battle disrupted him from his thinking.

"**Thunderball!**"

"**Gobli Bomb!**"

"**Gobli Bomb!**"

The wild Digimon were on the attack again, and with Ogremon slowly coming over to them, Colin didn't like their odds.

"We need to move back, retreat into the woods."

Dmitri stared at him in disbelief.

"You did just hear me and Asami a moment ago, right? It's a swamp back there; that is a horrible idea."

"It's still better than staying here and being pelted by the Goblimon. Come on, I have a plan in the works anyway, and I need more time to get it together."

Dmitri looked at him, and smiled back before nodding.

"Sure, whatever works. Besides, I already bagged a Brother, as did Asami. Only fair you get the last one, so we can keep this between friends."

Asami saw the two of them running back on their side of the battlefield, and gave them a 'what the hell' look. Colin looked and her and pointed at the trees, and while she hesitated at first, the continual attacks from Thundermon caused her to comply as she and DinoHyumon retreated back as well.

* * *

><p>Ogremon chuckled as he saw the Tamers flee.<p>

"Look at those rats run. How did my brothers fall to such weaklings?"

Saberdramon stared coldly at Ogremon, and he flinched a bit, though he was thankful that no one really saw him do so.

"He will not be pleased by this. You came to him, telling him that three of you were worthy to ride over to the Continent with him. You will likely not be allowed to come, considering you lack even a ship to attempt such a thing."

Ogremon started to complain, sounding like a child while doing so.

"It was Fugamon's job to unearth the ship. How is that my fault, he's the one that failed?"

"If you truly are the strongest of your kin, it should have been your responsibility to acquire the vessel. Instead you bullied your brother into doing it, and spent all you time here pestering the local Numemon and living lazily off of the offerings your gang brings you."

"Like the boss doesn't do the same thing."

Ogremon regretted saying that the moment it left his mouth, as a black wing smacked him into ground and bashed him repeatedly until Saberdramon relented.

"Never speak of him in such a way again. I will not stop next time if you do."

Nodding sheepishly, Ogremon then deleted three Goblimon nearby who saw his beating with a offhanded '**Pummel Whack**'s'. He then took off into the forest, really in the mood now to delete some Tamers.

* * *

><p>Waste Woods, 1 hour (Asami) spent.

"Colin, what exactly are you planning?"

Asami had converged with the two, though she still felt as awkward around Colin as he did. He sighed a little, both because he was calming himself and mentally making sure that he could talk maturely without bringing up what happened earlier, and also because of the awkward truth about his 'plan'.

"Honestly, most of it involves how I'm going to get Maul to take out Ogremon. The rest, which is dealing with Saberdramon and the goon squad, I still have to work on."

"So basically we're running into a death trap so that you can get a kill?"

She wanted to take back how mean that came out as, but Colin didn't react to it, at least visibly.

"Well if you two want to remain in the game, you could help me with it. Dmitri, Woodmon are Champion level, right?"

"Right, but I already used that card."

"Well then use a Weak Code; I'll pay you back when this is over. Also, don't both of you have cards from when you defeated the other brothers?"

They both nodded, though they couldn't see where he was going with this. Coming to a halt, Colin pointed out something that caused the others to react in disgust and mock horror. The section of the woods they were coming to was crawling with Numemon, slithering all over the tree and bathing in the muck. Colin had a small smile crawl unto his face.

"I think I found the way we can get rid of most of the horde after us."

They looked at him, before also smiling as they got what he was getting at.

"You want to lead them into the swamp, and have the Numemon finish them off."

Colin shook his head, though Dmitri was half-right.

"From what little I know of Digimon, Numemon are more status-aliment types than straight forward attackers. We just need them to weaken most of the Goblimon, Thundermon, and Ogremon if we're lucky before we attack them ourselves. No reason to give-up extra cards when provided."

They all just remembered the little collection of Goblimon cards they had acquired by this time. This gave Asami an idea of her own.

"Dmitri, how exactly did you make your Woodmon card's sentinels instead of power-ups?"

* * *

><p>"Where the hell did those soft-skins go? And why are they stupid enough to further into this mess?"<p>

Thundermon rewarded the mouthy Goblimon with a spark to his hind quarters.

"Less whining, more searching."

The horde spread itself as far as they dared to go into the woods. Goblimon were checking every bush and low hanging branch, looking for whatever Tamers they could find. Three of them came across a Tamer and his Gekomon, who he was struggling to drag out of muck as they approached.

"Ah great, now you clowns are here."

"Yup. **Gobli Bomb!**"

Launching an explosive spike ball at the pair, the Tamer let of his partner as a few spikes embedded themselves into his arm, causing him to howl out in pain.

"What the hell?! This is supposed to be a game; why did that hurt?!"

"Who knows, maybe you aren't a real boy. Fact is, you don't seem to like that much, ain't that boys?"

Smiling in agreement, the other two held out their clubs horizontally as they began launching their own attacks.

"**Gobli Strike!**"

"**Gobli Strike!**"

**-WARNING: Player Data being corrupted. Suggest avoiding any actions that may further contaminate your information!-**

The Tamer's avatar started to de-stabilize, and his partner didn't seem any better off than him. Granted, his partner didn't have that much in the way of expression, appearing rather blank and emotionless as spikes ripped through its data, with it being able to do little in return.

"Tongue Attack."

It's tongue was easy enough for the Goblimon to avoid, who started to play around and whack at it when they allowed it to come closer. Thundermon came behind them and chided them.

"Enough with these games. **Thunderbolt!**"

Releasing a stream of electricity from his body, Thundermon reduced Gekomon to a stream of data, which he and the three Goblimon lapped up happily. The Tamer looked on in anger for a moment before fading away.

**Player has failed. Prepare for ejection!**

Two other Goblimon, as well as three SnowGoblimon came over to report to Thundermon.

"Hey boss, we took out a Tamer and his soulless Flarerizamon over by that stump. Two other squads have taken out at least three other Tamers. How's your lot doing?"

Smiling back at them, Thundermon replied as he hovered on.

"We just took out a Gekomon Tamer, though that's much to go on about. I mean, it was a freakin' Gekomon."

"Yeah, will there were so smucks earlier acting as if deleting a PlatinumSukamon was some sort of Olympian feat. Oh gee, it's a shiny turd Digimon. Please!"

Thundermon stopped and stared at the SnowGoblimon who had just spoken, looking very disappointed.

"Hey now, that's nothing to mock. PlatinumSukamon are highly vicious. Why, Ogremon even thought of adding them to our forces at one point, but thought they'd make the rest of you guys look like chumps."

"Really?"

"Nah, I'm just pulling your leg."

Sighing in relief, since he didn't want to end up a barbecued lackey, SnowGoblimon suddenly heard something rustling in the bushes next to him.

"Who's there? Come out if you don't want to be filled with spikes and lighting!"

The others shared a look. _Like we won't give them that even if they do come out._ A second later, two Goblimon and a Shamanmon emerged from the bushes. The SnowGoblimon lowered his club, very annoyed.

"You guys could have called out! What's the matter with you, sneaking up on a 'mon like that?"

They didn't reply, which caused the SnowGoblimon to look at them curiously.

"Hello, are you guys at home, or did you all get clocked in the head?"

"Gobli Strike."

"Gobli Strike."

The two Goblimon, who the others in the assembled group could now see had blank eyes just like what some of the automated Tamer partners have, began attacking the SnowGoblimon. The Shamanmon leaped at the ones who had remained back, twirling as he did.

"Mad Twist."

Two Goblimon disappeared into clouds of data as the club spun through them, but before the Shamanmon could continue, he was burnt to a crisp by a ball of lighting.

"**Thunderball!**"

Thundermon glared at the two remaining Goblimon, who had moved on from the deleted SnowGoblimon and were trying to attack the rest of the present gang.

"You dare use our brothers as attack drones?! **Thunderball!**"

Striking with a wild fury, Thundermon nearly destroyed his own Digimon in his anger. As the two remaining husks disappeared, a Goblimon who clearly deserved a promotion noticed something.

"Hey, the data stream from are fallen our floating off behind those bushes."

Pointing to where the three husks had emerged from, the rest of the gang saw five streams of data flying off, likely to the Tamers that had just used those drones. Thundermon gritted his teeth as he pointed in that direction.

"They're over there, get those punks!"

* * *

><p>1 hour and 30 minutes spent.

'Over there' three Tamers hid up in the trees, seeing that they had managed to successfully get the attention they wanted.

"Well Colin, you've succeeded in pissing them off. What's part two of your master plan?"

Looking at Dmitri, he smiled evilly.

"Now we do it again, only this time we rile up the Numemon."

* * *

><p>The gang had come up to some very loose soil, and those of them who couldn't hover (basically most of them) had to tread carefully, until they found themselves in front of some very dirty, dangerous water. The horde paused, and Thundermon got annoyed with the lot very quickly.<p>

"What's the matter with you guys?! Are you going to let a little bit of muck keep you from avenging your mates?!"

"Hey, if you want to trade places and drown in our stead, I will gladly move on. We can't make it through this crap!"

Thundermon sparked with anger, and the Goblimon started to back away.

"What did you just say?!"

"There they are, the bastards!"

The horde turned, and to their horror they saw a dozen pair of eyes begin to surface from the muck they had just been discussing. Those closest to the shore started to move, and the Goblimon now saw what they were hoping to avoid this entire time: Numemon.

"Well, if it ain't the stinking, putrid Goblimon. What are you lot doing in our woods?"

The Goblimon started to quiver, but Thundermon just glared at them, despite their vast numbers as more eyes started bobbing up in the dirty water.

"We're here hunting Tamers, so don't get in our way."

"Hunting, in our woods; without a permit and outside of hunting season?"

Thundermon was in no mood for jokes.

"We don't take orders from you. Now step aside, or else I'll-"

"**Bomber!**"

Pink…sludge flew and smeared itself on Thundermon's face. The round Digimon did nothing at first, before steaming and flailing in rage.

"That's it. **Thunderbo-**"

"**Bomber!**"

"**Bomber!**"

"**Nume-Sludge!**"

Thundermon found himself being peppered by sludge, which normally would have sent his gang into hauls of laughter if they weren't being pelted as well. The results were simply a spectacle to watch. Goblimon started attacking trees, snatching clubs from one another, and running into things in a maddened frenzy. The three Tamers could see this all from their trees, and were laughing away with their partner Digimon. Colin had to catch Maul to keep him from falling off and alerting the horde to them.

"Oh my God, look at them! Did you see the look on Thundermon's face as they blasted him to the ground? Ugh, he'd need to shower for weeks to get the smell off of him."

Asami wiped a joyful tear from her eye as she replied.

"We're not going to give him a week though, now are we?"

No longer laughing, Colin nodded as he patted Maul, signaling for him to descend from the tree. All of the partners were Rookie again, and whatever power ups they had used early had canceled out.

"Now since the Numemon are moving out to attack any Goblimon they see, we should try to find Ogremon in all of this and take him out. Shin's still in trouble over at the mountain base, so let's not take too long doing this."

The other two nodded, even if Dmitri didn't normally care for the lion that much.

"What's the plan to find him? Ogremon, that is."

"With any luck, he'll likely make himself the main even with all the chaos we're causing. Especially with both Tamers and Numemon having it out for him."

* * *

><p>The much sought after Ogremon was in the middle of engaging a rather brave Tamer and his Tankmon partner. They were not faring well, though the Tamer should be commend for his unwillingness to back down.<p>

"Get him, Tankmon!"

"Hyper Cannon."

A very nasty looking missile shot out of the nozzle on Tankmon's face that acts as his nose. Ogremon calmly waited for the missile to be only a few meters away from him, before striking back.

"**Pummel Whack!**"

Releasing dark energy from his fist, the wave collided with the missile, engulfing him and the surrounding trees in fire and smoke. The Tamer cheered at first, pumping his fist into the air.

"Oh Yeah, uh huh! I took out Orgemon! That's right, me, Steven Blair!"

"I don't hear no fat lady singing, Blair!"

To the Tamer's shock, Ogremon walked out of the fire, barely scathed and smiling cruelly.

"Or in this case, your Digimon isn't getting any data, and I'm not a card. Kinda early to be celebrating, don't you think?"

Steven pointed frantically at Ogremon, before remembering that his automated Digimon didn't need his direction, and quickly tried to swipe some cards.

**Digi-Modify: Thunder Ammo**

"Machine Gun Arms."

Ogremon dashed from side to side while approaching the two, avoiding Tankmon's fire. The missing volleys started to cut up the trees behind him, setting some more on fire. Tankmon switched tactics as he got too close.

"Hyper Cannon."

It launched another missile, and it looked like this one was about to hit the surprised Ogremon. Then he leapt up at the last possible moment, and the explosion from the missile kicked up dust, blinding the Tamer and his partner.

"Where'd he go?"

"Up here runt!"

Steven looked up and saw Ogremon grinning, his free hand pulled back.

"**Pummel Whack!**"

The Tamer had little time to feel surprised as the energy wave forced him on his back. It took a few moments for him to realize that he couldn't feel his knees, and while he could feel his shoulders and arms, he really wished he couldn't for all the pain he was going through. His partner didn't react, or at least not to his injuries. No, it was more concerned with engaging Ogremon again, for all the good that would do it.

"Machine Gun-"

"**Bone Cudgel!**"

As he descended, Ogremon went into frenzy again, wailing on Tankmon with the fury he had hidden behind his mockingly jovial attitude. Steven felt himself grow scared watching Ogremon go to town on his partner, even if this was all just a game to him. Then again, the unexpected pain he was feeling was making him react just as you'd expect someone in a safari to feel when watching a rhino run over a friend, or a jaguar tear up his tour guide.

_What the hell is going on?! Why did the-oh god, why do my shoulders fucking hurt? It's like their actually broken or something! And why did Ogremon attack me directly, not Tankmon?! That's not how this game's supposed to work._

Ogremon stepped away from thrashing Tankmon a bit, the Digimon pathetically raising an arm in defiance only for it to be swatted away by Ogremon's club. He turned to Steven, his expression fierce and extremely unfriendly. He then stomped down on his leg, and Steven could swear he felt it shatter. He screamed like it just had, anyway.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Still having fun, you fucking invading filth?! Cause I sure am. But hey, if you're not enjoying yourself, let me send you home."

The Tamer started to de-stabilize frantically, and could only look up at Ogremon with tears in his eyes, trying his best to look extremely pissed off. Ogremon returned to focusing his wrath on the artificial Digimon.

"**Pummel Whack!**"

The force of this last attack obliterated Tankmon's head, its permanent manic grin disintegrating along with its head. The body soon followed, as well as a familiar voice heard from the D-Arc in its last moments of existence.

**Player has failed. Prepare for ejection!**

Steven faded away, an imprint of where he was being all that was left. Ogremon looked satisfied, surveying the destruction of his work before running ahead. He still had two Tamers that acquired his attention.

_They were useless packets of junk data, but they were MY useless junk data. No human gets to do that to them and expect to just walk on like it was nothing._

"**Nume-Sludge!**"

"**Bomber!**"

"**Gobli Bo-**oh Zhuqiaomon, it's in my eyes!"

Ogremon was pulled out his thoughts of vengeance, seeing a now large group of Goblimon and Numemon engaging each other, the Numemon winning due to the fact that half the Goblimon were either affected by their bile, attacking mostly their own allies. Ogremon pulled aside one healthy Goblimon, interrogating angrily.

"Why are the Numemon attacking us; which one of you dunder-heads started messing with them?!"

The Goblimon defensively waved his hands in front of him, being just as confused as his boss, if not as angry.

"I don't know boss, I swear. All I know is that when my group came to help, about the entire horde was fighting the swamp. We haven't seen a tamer since this started."

Ogremon surveyed the battle, noticing some rustling up a tree behind enemy lines. He had an idea who was up there, and didn't like what it meant.

"Get Thundermon to blast whoever's up there out. They're probably the ones behind rousing the Numemon from their…stuff."

He didn't like thinking about what the Numemon did in their spare time, sliding along the bottom of the swamp. The Goblimon shrugged sheepishly was he pointed in a general direction at the horde.

"Uh boss, Thundermon is kind of…unavailable."

"**Thunder-bounce! Lightning Scream!**"

Thundermon was randomly blasting the ground and sky, occasionally striking a Numemon here and there, but mostly hurting his own gang. Orgemon sweatdropped at the scene of his last lieutenant going bonkers.

"The Sovereigns piss on me. Fine, take a small group who aren't playing with muck in their face and take out those Tamers!"

"What Tamers?"

"The ones in the tree, THERE!"

The tree he was pointing at was no longer rustling, which only increased Orgemon growing anger. What happened next also added to his rage.

"**Aerial Attack!**"

A ball of yellow energy struck his back, causing Orgemon to spin around in anger, trying to find his assailant. He couldn't find him, until he realized he knew that attack.

"Boss, Unimon's attacking us!"

"It's not him you dolt! He was deleted by a Tamer a few days back!"

"So then who's attacking you?"

"**Meteor Shower!**"

Burning rocks fell down and struck multiple targets, all of them from Ogremon's gang. The Goblimon standing next to him wasn't sure if the steam coming off of his boss was due to the attack, or his barely contained rage.

"Okay, where are these cowardly Tamer pets?! If they want to fight, they should come out and face me, not hide behind some trees and launch other Digimon's attacks!"

"You mean like this? **Akinakes!**"

DinoHyumon came flying from the trees, Aero Wings equipped and his training grips being dropped as he soared towards Orgemon. The ogre wasn't worried, but then he noticed that DinoHyumon's veins were visibly glowing blue, and his muscles were bulging. The lizard man brought down his huge blade, which Orgemon was barely able to block in time, causing the two of them to go sliding backwards in the mud, DinoHyumon still flying and Orgemon leaving a trail in the mud as they kept going.

"So you're a little more juiced compared to last time. It's funny how little Digimon like you need humans to feel all big and strong. Why don't you power down and take me on then?!"

DinoHyumon gritted his teeth, but didn't fall for Ogremon's bating. Instead, he simply opened his mouth.

"**Mirage Blaster!**"

Ogremon took a white orb to the face, his head tilting back from the force of the blow. DinoHyumon took this chance to slash at his belly.

"**Lizard Dance!**"

He managed to slash him only three times in a twirling motion, before Orgemon recovered and blocked the last few with his club. He wasted no time countering.

"**Pummel Whack!**"

DinoHyumon was sent back a few paces, but before Ogremon could continue he was assaulted from behind.

"**Snow Punch!**"

A familiar wintery blast struck Ogremon's back, and became more enraged than someone could thing possible.

"Did-did you just attack me with my BROTHER'S ATTACK?! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

"Oh you don't like that? Then you'll hate this."

**Digi-Modify: Fugamon Activate!**

"**Evil Hurricane!**"

DinoHyumon struck him full force with Fugamon's attack, and Ogremon could make out an afterimage of his orange-red brother form over his enemy as he blasted him.

"I WILL FUCKING DRAIN YOU TO THE LAST 01011101!"

Before he could carry out this threat, he was gains struck from behind three times.

"**Aerial Attack! Aerial Attack! Aerial Attack!**"

Ogremon had had it, spinning around and launching wildly into the air at whoever was assaulting him.

"**Pummel Whack! Pummel Whack! Pummel Whack! Pummel Whack!**"

The last two blasts scored against Grizzlymon, who rolled with them and turned to 'flee', making sure Ogremon saw him fly off back the way he came. Ogremon was too incensed to care, following him in a rage. DinoHyumon sighed to himself a little as he saw the ogre leave. _You two wanted your fight. Hope you guys can handle it._

"Where are you, you damn human puppet?! Come on out and FACE ME!"

* * *

><p>Smashing his way through the woods, Ogremon had lost sight of Maul due to the trees above. Still sure that the Digimon had flown back to where Saberdramon was restraining Leomon, he charged ahead, his eyes almost red with the anger of being punked by some Tamer-partnered Digimon.<p>

A few minutes later, he was greeted by the sight of Maul purposefully crashing down through the trees, his Unimon wings disappearing as soon as he landed. Ogremon paused for a second at the sight, before charging at him.

"**Bone Cudgel!**"

Grizzlymon rolled to the side, letting Ogremon smash up a tree trunk. Ogremon spun to catch up to him, his free hand pulled back as he did so. The bear didn't look too concerned, which pissed off Ogremon to no end.

"Why are you so calm?!"

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"**Pummel Whack!**"

Maul rolled again, but this time he didn't manage to dodge the blast completely, some of the dark energy clipping his back foot and side as he got out of the way. Ogre didn't seem to grin at this, instead still being ticked off because of Maul's attitude.

"You saw what I did to your friend earlier. Just cause he had wings now didn't help him much either. I even swatted your furry hide away when you tried to interfere. So WHY ARE YOU SO CALM NOW?! **BONE CUDGEL!**"

**Digi-Modify: Matador's Bane Equipped!**

The skulls of two Minotaurmon appeared where Maul's red gauntlets normally are. There was a grip under each skull for his own claws to grab hold of. The ogre tried briefly to survey the area to find Colin, since he had heard his D-Arc supply Maul with his new weapons. Maul knew that Ogremon was still faster than him, but instead of rolling out of the way he simply brought up his new gauntlets in front of his face and stomach and tried his best to block the onslaught of Ogremon's anger.

"How is this any better than what your friend was attempting?! You're still just a stupid Tamer's pet, barely able to fight for yourself without having your human supplying you other Digimon's attacks!"

"How is that different from when you attack other Digimon and absorb their data to add your own strength?"

Ogremon laughed cruelly, like how an annoyed older sibling does before they tell you Santa Claus isn't real, just to have you cry.

"I delete pathetic excuses for Digimon, like you village junk-packets! Unimon was a punk-ass horse, but even he knew the difference between a real Digimon and a pet. The fact that you're sentient doesn't change the fact that you're the same as those drones MA-GAMI spits out. I hope Baihumon wipes the lot of you off the face of our world!"

"What do you know of Baihumon, virus?!"

"Ha, that's cute. You think because I'm a virus type I have no idea what your precious Sovereigns are like?! I know they care more for this world than you, who would align yourself with this world's mortal enemy!"

"How are humans the Digital World mortal enemy?!"

Colin knew that he should supply Maul the Hyper Speed and Power Strike cards soon, but he was just as curious to hear what Ogremon was saying as his partner was.

"They have tried to enslave us from the beginning. They can't just leave us to live our lives without them having control over everything we do. When we resisted, they sent human _**children**_ in to exterminate all of us, and replace us with their automated fakes!"

"This is all well and good, but how does that change the fact that you and your brothers attack towns without Tamers or partner Digimon, like Hyperlink Town?! For all your 'human are mean bullies' whining, your very sure leave out the bullshit your up to. So let's say you do eliminate me and every partner Digimon in existence. You going to reform and leave all the surrounding towns alone, or can we drop the gallant rebel bullshit you're spouting and agree that your just a marauding bully and thug?!"

Colin smiled, glad that his partner wasn't buying what Ogremon was spewing, before he realized something odd. _Huh, is it just me, or does Maul get smarter, or at least more vocal in his Champion form._ Thinking back, he realized that the other's partner spoke and knew more when they changed as well. That was something to be considered later, as he was pushing it as it was.

**Digi-Modify: Power Strike Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Hyper Speed Activate!**

Maul's expression changed from angry to smug, as he struggled out of Ogremon's attacks and started to exchange his own, pushing off of the trunk he was up against and moving steadily forward.

"**Maul Attack!**"

"**Bone Cudgel!**"

Whenever Grizzlymon launched his 'Maul Attack', his Minotaurmon skull lit on fire briefly, only so long as to strike Ogremon before extinguishing again. Ogremon didn't like this change, and tried to get Maul the same way he was messing with DinoHyumon.

"Looks like you're just proving my point. Look at you, you've got bulls' heads on your paws, and you're juicing on human provided upgrades. What exactly out of all of this is your own strength?!"

"Maybe not a lot of it, but I do have something you don't."

"Oh don't say something corny like 'I have friends'."

"Oh no, nothing like that."

He brought down one paw with immense force, and as Ogremon brought up his club to block with both hands, Maul swung his other paw under and landed an uppercut on Ogremon's chin.

"Style, and apparently a working brain."

Ogremon was even angry than before, but when he returned a blow this time, Maul barely had to raise a paw to block it.

"What, what's happening?!"

"Well see, you've had your little tantrum, and now you're spent. I, on the other hand-"

"**Pummel Whack!**"

"**Crescent Dawn!**"

The arc of energy erupting from Maul's head cut through Ogremon's wave of dark energy, and hit the Ogre right in the chest, cutting him and leaving his chest bleeding data.

"-am feeling on top of my game."

Ogremon looked at the grizzly bear in fear, before dashing off, trying to get away. Maul wasn't having that, still powered by Hyper Speed and running to intercept him, coming in front of him and smacking him into a tree.

"Where are you going, I thought we were partying?"

"**Pummel Whack!**"

"**Maul Attack!**"

Maul swiped through the attack, dissipating it into random dark data before it disappeared. Ogremon was not taking this rather well, his voice breaking as he rose up an arm, pleading.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I said before. You've proven you're better. You don't have to kill me."

Colin came out from hiding behind his tree, walking behind Maul before addressing Ogremon.

"We heard a bunch of other Tamers screaming earlier. How many of them asked you to stop before you deleted their partners?"

Colin's left arm twitched involuntarily, and looking down he saw for the first time it was still bandaged like had been back in the real world. _What-?_ Ogremon saw this as well, and got a little braver as he spoke.

"You've been damaged before. Surprising that you'd survive that."

Colin gave him a fierce look, which didn't deter Ogremon, but he realized something and laughed.

"You're an illegal player. Oh ho ho, this is priceless. Your own people are likely hunting you, or at least they will be soon. And yet you continue to hack your way into our world. People like you I don't understand at all."

"I don't require you to understand me. Answer my question. How many Digimon partners and Tamers did you assault today, that you think you deserve any mercy?"

Ogremon soured a bit, but tried to be 'polite' again.

"Hey come one now. You've beaten me. Aren't you all pretending to be heroes here? Don't heroes from your world let the villain go, knowing they'll reform and change their ways?"

Maul looked to Colin, who just stared coldly back at Ogremon.

"Not a kid who follows that crap anymore, considering doing so let's creeps like you continue to do crap and abusing the whole 'forgive and let them reform' shtick your trying to pull. So no, we won't let you go. In fact-"

He pulled out his collection of Goblimon, SnowGoblimon, and Shamanmon cards, flashing them before Ogremon and grinning viciously.

"Maul and I have to complete are little group collection. Buddy?"

Maul had already sprinted over to finish Ogremon at the word 'collection'. Ogremon brought his arms up before his head as Maul's claws came crashing down.

"**Maul Attack!**"

Ogremon stayed there for a moment, before splitting into three separate parts and then disappearing into a cloud of data. A green orb formed out of this data and flew into Maul along with the other standard data, and a card flew to Colin in Ogremon's likeness as his D-Arc practically celebrated.

**Last Ogremon Brothers Boss Defeated. Last Key rewarded. Congratulations!**

From in front of them, Asami, DinoHyumon, Dmitri and Meramon came out of the dense woods to greet them. Asami smiled a little, which Colin returned.

"So, looks like you bagged one."

"I did. Now we're all even."

Asami sweatdropped and looked annoyingly at Dmitri, who smiled knowingly.

"Actually-"

"Asami bagged at least two lieutenants so far, and I've only taken out Thundermon so far (it was almost a mercy kill, he was so out of it) so actually she's ahead of both of us."

Colin gave her a mocked annoyed look, before shrugging.

"Hey, we took out Tuskmon earlier, and don't forget that we deleted Golemon as well. Didn't we, partner?"

"Definitely, we smashed that punk."

"Well now, you see."

There was silence between the three Tamers, before Dmitri responded with.

"First to cook the bird wins. Meramon, go!"

Dashing ahead, the other took called out playful curses as they sprinted not be left behind.

* * *

><p>Saberdramon was not at all put off by Shin's dark glares, having experienced much worse than a lion's disapproval. But he was disturbed a little by his cold silence.<p>

"Have nothing to say, Leomon?"

"I go by Shin."

The bird huffed, not expecting the Digimon to have been 'one of those'.

"Great, an individualist. Let me guess, you didn't get a partner, so you name yourself in the hopes of being seen as important as the In-Training that 'lucky' enough to be picked by those players?"

Leomon growled at him, though in his mind something other than what the bird had said was echoing in his head.

"It's not like that. I just prefer to have an actual name than what my species is. It makes sense, really."

"Whatever, not that it matters. Master will enjoy his snack, whether it's named Sally or not."

"I think he said his name was Shin."

"I said I don't car-"

Saberdramon was suddenly tackled by a soaring Grizzlymon, who had somehow rocketed himself ahead of Meramon. Dmitri and Meramon were scratching their heads at the sight of this.

"How did you get ahead of us?"

"Sorry, secret."

Dmitri scowled a bit, but Meramon went on and started blasting Saberdramon with Hyogamon's power.

"**Snow Punch!**"

The wintery gale did weaken some of the flames Saberdramon was made of, which Maul was wishing he had thought of doing as some of the lingering black fire singed him and caused his fur to stink. DinoHyumon at seemed dejected.

"What's wrong DinoHyumon?"

"Those two have ice element cards to combat him. I'm at a disadvantage."

"Oh, not really. Remember this one here?"

She brought out the Crabmon card, from the Digimon that was annoyed at them earlier for taking the entire river's fish. DinoHyumon smiled as he remembered.

"Does 'Scissor Magic' have water attributes?"

"Doesn't hurt to check."

**Digi-Modify: Crabmon Activate!**

Bringing out his 'Akinakes', he charged at Saberdramon and jumped, swinging the blade in mid-air as he attacked.

"**Scissor Magic!**"

The rookie-level attack did hurt Saberdramon a bit, but he still stood where he was, glaring at three attacking Digimon as he did. Shin smiled at them, but called out to them in annoyed voice.

"What took you so long?"

"Well there was this mean guy, you might have noticed him; big, green and ridiculously powerful. Yeah, we had to run from that punk and plot our counter-attack."

"Well did you?"

Colin flashed his recently acquired card, and Shin smiled warmly.

"Well that's nice. Now how about you GET THIS GIANT CHICKEN OFF OF ME?!"

"Quiet."

Saberdramon tightened his talon, and Maul didn't take kindly to this.

"Get off of him. **Crescent Dawn!**"

The bird flew up into the air, still gripping Shin, and started flapping its wings harder than necessary when it reached a certain height. All three Tamers had an idea what was about to happen next.

"**Night's Roar!**"

Black flames roared down, splashing the ground and causing the six of them to dance around avoiding the blast, which was hard to do with the wind blowing down hard on them. Asami looked at two cards, and decided to try them out.

**Digi-Modify: Gururumon Saber Equipped!**

**Digi-Modify: Hyper Chip Activate!**

His new sword, with Gururumon's head biting down on a blade, started to glow blue. Running over to Grizzlymon between blasts he pointed up to Saberdramon, and made a throwing motion. Maul nodded, and stood upright, one paw waiting flat. DinoHyumon jumped on, and Maul tossed him upwards at Saberdramon. DinoHyumon brought his blade back, and started to spin before attacking.

"**Akinakes!**"

Managing to slash Saberdramon's talons, the ones holding Shin, DinoHyumon caught him as they fell. They landed not quite ceremoniously, but none the worse for wear. Saberdramon glared down at them, before diving quickly.

"**Black Saber!**"

His talons were engulfed in black flames again, and he repeatedly came down crashing exactly where the Digimon previously were before they quickly dodged to the side. He'd then fly up again and repeat about 7 times, before halting in mid-air and glaring again for a moment. He then turned again and flew off to the top of the mountain, shouting back.

"My Master is going to awaken soon, and this island is going to feel his power and wrath for the sins they have committed against the Digital World."

The six adventurers looked up at the feeling Digimon, confused as all hell. Kotemon, having returned to his rookie form, looked at Shin for answers.

"What does he mean, who's his 'master'?"

Shin nursed his neck and chest, where the grip was tightest.

"You've heard the old tale of the 'Beast in the Mountain'?

"That old tale you Village Elders told to keep us from wondering around the base of the mountain? I thought that was just to keep us away from the Goblimon gangs."

"Yes it was, because they work for him."

Dmitri was growing impatient.

"Him who?"

"Airdramon."

Asami let out a little laugh. Shin looked at her knowingly, and she waved a hand apologetically.

"I'm sorry, but Airdramon doesn't seem that scary. I mean, sure he's a Champion, but what makes him any worse than the others we faced?"

Shin smiled grimly.

"Because he's the only one on the island who can go to Ultimate-level."

The group fell silent, even Colin knowing what that meant.

"Wait, are you saying we can't? Heck, you can't go ultimate?"

Shin smiled a bit, taking that as a compliment.

"Not yet, though I feel that I'm close. But due to the fact that most File Islands are half artificially created, there's an enforced level-cap that MAGAMI implants here that keeps any Tamer that hasn't survived past the Ogremon Brother's 'Arc' from leveling their partners to Ultimate level. It apparently affects us 'anomalies' as well, because there are some of us who should have been Ultimates already."

Now the three Digimon partners were a little alarmed by the File Island part, and Colin and Dmitri were shocked by a part of it as well.

"The island is man-made?!"

"There are other File Islands?!"

Shin put up his arms to try and calm them down.

"One at a time, one at a time. Look, we can get to this later, but maybe we should get to following this bird before he wakes up his boss?"

They all nodded, but Kotemon and Kumamon were visibly disturbed by the thought that their home was partially constructed by MAGAMI, especially after all they've had to deal with those guys at this point. Colin and Dmitri had figured that the multiple File Islands were so that the millions of players weren't all cluttered on the same starting point, but the idea still shocked them. Especially Colin, who was partially buying the whole sentient Digital World, especially after witnessing Ogremon's tirade earlier.

Shin pointed to a path they should follow, only to find Asami dashing by him down it. Kotemon quickly got out of his funk to follow, and Colin called out to her.

"What's the rush?"

She turned around, smiling as she taunted him.

"Still got a bird to bag, got to keep up or get left behind boys!"

* * *

><p><span>FanAuthor's Note<span>: Okay, not out too late compared to that last one. Longest chapter to date, though that wasn't the intention. Will try to get the next one out as soon as possible.


	13. Chapter 13: Death on Wings

Disclaimer: So Young Justice is out, which means I can't make the joke anymore. But Yes, I do not own Digimon, any of the songs from Skillet, Kamen Rider or the show itself. I am a poor fanfiction fool. And I enjoy every second of it.

FanAuthor's Note: A shout-out to Blitzer for telling me how he feels so far. Same to boby333, Ahmad135792468, RoxasKeyBladeHolder, and JusticeKuran. To everyone else, please leave a review and tell me what you think, positive or negative I'd like to know what your feelings are.

Chapter 13: Death on Wings

* * *

><p>Lucky's Hideout

The hacker was on the verge of pulling his hair out. Not a day ago, he had gone out of his way to help a sucker out and revive his fallen Digimon, making it very clear to him that he was to be **UNSEEN** by anyone still legally playing DigiWorld Online. Granted, his friends had gotten into a bit of trouble themselves, resulting in the now illegal player to at least still 'play' with them privately, but that was all. Even then, that Asami chick seems to have been allowed to continue to play despite having an 'anomaly' for a Digimon partner. Now this idiot, Colin, who has the nerve to complain about his, Lucky Mouse's, ever so wise counsel, which is available 24/7, goes and allows himself to be seen by a plethora of Tamers, who with trained eyes can easily see that he's at the very least playing illegally. But whatever, it's his loss, and now he's going to have to go on the run like Dmitri and even Lucky himself. Only he will not take another freeloader on. No, that kid is going to have to shake his lucky tree if he wants to…

Lucky checked the monitor he had hooked up to spy on the arcade room at the hotel. The sight that was up was horrifying, but Lucky realized something beneficial had come from it. At the arcade, multiple players, lots of them having been at the same mountain base Colin and his friends are, were being hauled off on stretchers my various medical workers. They seemed to be suffering from broken limbs and beaten and bloody body parts. The news coverage would likely say something to the effect that a brawl had erupted between players, and they'd chalk it up to video game addiction. Lucky knew better; these players had suffered from a direct and brutal Digimon attack. The worst part for them is that they likely won't be able to remember recent events due to the various blows to the head. The best part for Lucky, is that he won't have to honestly worry about Colin anymore. No one healthy could identify him. For the moment, anyway.

* * *

><p>Secret Infinity Mountain Path

"You're sure this will take us to where Saberdramon is going?"

Shin wasn't sure if he was simply getting used to Dmitri constantly questioning him, or if he simply didn't have the energy to argue back anymore.

"Yes, Dmitri, I am sure. There's a weird rune carved into the rocks a little ways ahead, with three slots on it. Each slot has a color similar to the now deceased Ogremon Brothers-"

Shin couldn't help but smile as he said that last part.

"-so I assume that they're there for whoever defeats all three of the Brothers. That and they likely used it themselves to converse with their boss."

Asami was still ahead of them, keeping a steady pace and humming happily. Colin grinned a little. _She's so sure she's going to take out Saberdramon. We'll just see about that._ To his surprise, she slowed down so as to walk alongside him.

"Hey Colin, how did you come up with that plan to lure the Goblimon into fighting the Numemon?"

He found himself reluctant to answer, not wanting to bring up the fact that he and Shin were at each other's throats because a Shamanmon had manipulated their anger. The plan was really more payback than it was brilliant. At least Colin felt that way.

"A Shamanmon messed with us earlier when we were headed your way. I remembered how Dmitri always uses his Woodmon cards as drones, and thought it be a nice trick to play back on them."

"A Shamanmon? I thought I saw a few of those during the fight; strange, I'd thought they'd have cleared off after what I did to Fugamon."

She flashed a smile, which Colin didn't react to, haven gotten into a funk about his attitude earlier. Asami noticed this, and dropped her cheery mood.

"What's wrong, what exactly did it do?"

"It…it supercharged our anger, I guess. I had Maul attack Shin, and vice versa. Dmitri and Candlemon weren't affected, oddly enough."

"What do you mean 'oddly enough'? I wasn't moping about because I had just come back from a bad date."

Shin gave Dmitri a glare, as his defensive remark had pretty much told more than Colin clearly wanted to say, and the two of them were now awkwardly walking away from the other. Whatever control they had to not bring up earlier events was likely gone now, thanks to Dmitri. He looked unrepentant for what he had said, but he realized that this may affect their performance later if those two were back to feeling glum.

A few moments later, they had reached the wall with runes Shin had spoken off. There was a door like carving in the stone, and above and around it were three slots, each looking like they were meant for a key. The top one had a green line painted above its hole, the one to the right was an orange line, and the last one to the left was obviously blue. At first the three stood there, probably expecting their D-Arcs to automatically react to the runes. When they didn't, Dmitri went about scrolling through his as usual to find an answer. It wasn't to be found in the D-Arcs, however.

"Uh, guys?"

Asami pointed at Kotemon, as well as Kumamon and Candlemon, who were glowing orange, green and blue respectively. Orbs of the same color flew out of their partners, each of them then forming into a strange key that seemed to fit their keyholes. They then soared to their respective spots, turning once inside. The crevice that they were in started to rock violently, as the rock door slid open. Shin sprinted ahead, calling to others.

"Let's not wait and get crushed, shall we? RUN!"

None of them needed to be told twice, dashing inside as rocks came crashing down where they were just standing. Finding their way now bared, they had little choice but to proceed forward. Asami's D-Arc rang out alone, causing the other two to wonder why theirs weren't working.

**-Welcome Player Asami to the Island's Final Boss. Succeed and you will be allowed to enter the Server Continent. Fail and as always, you will be booted. Enjoy!-**

"…well, that's encouraging."

"Why didn't ours say that?"

Shin came back from inspecting a tunnel to answer Colin's question.

"Probably because of your illegal status."

"So then why was I able to take Ogremon's data key?"

"If I were to guess, I'd say that MAGAMI's found a way to at least fix that 'patch'."

"Right, patch."

Dmitri gave Colin a disbelieving look.

"Oh dear god, you've gone native now as well."

Lucky could be heard laughing on his end, though it seemed to be out of joy. Colin kept on walking as he answered back.

"All I know is that Ogremon seemed a little extreme for just a mere boss program."

"Oh you don't know the half of it."

Lucky was speaking now, and Colin had to resist the reactionary urge to curse at his sudden outburst, remembering that he'd messed up earlier.

"Your fellow Tamers are being carted away by ambulances now, and the hotel is under a lot of scrutiny from the police as to why their all injured."

Colin understood right away what had happened to them, though it took Dmitri a moment to put two and two together. Asami, who hadn't seen Colin injured in real life, was left in the dark.

"What happened was there a fight?"

Lucky realized that she hadn't been told of Colin injuries, but was more surprised that someone wanted him to speak.

"Well no, not a real life anyway. Ogremon directly attacked some of the players themselves, and that causes actual damage to the people playing in their VR machines."

Asami scoffed at this, but when she noticed that not even Dmitri was doing the same, she was understandably worried.

"Wait, you're serious? How is that possible, this is a-"

"-a game? Yeah, I know. It seems ridiculous. I don't even know how the whole real world damage thing works, but just ask Colin, and he'll tell you that a Seadramon tail to the arm hurts like a bitch, virtually and later in real life."

Asami turned for confirmation from Colin, who showed her his bandaged left arm. She had just thought at first that that was a cosmetic change he had given his avatar.

"Oh my god, if you hadn't pushed me out of the way that time…"

"I'd have been an asshole who had let you get hurt instead. It was nothing."

Dmitri had to suppress a snarky 'aaaaahhhh', though he did realize that fact changed a few things.

"Why did MAGAMI create such a poorly constructed game? I mean, all of us are partnered up with Digimon that apparently illegal to have, we barely fight any other wild Digimon before we're shanghaied into fighting those Ogremon brothers, which from a gaming standpoint is poor plotting. At least let us have a few more random encounters before we taken on the main threat."

Candlemon once again seemed hurt by Dmitri's words, as he had technically just referred to him (absentmindedly) as an unwanted burden. Colin saw the little candle's reaction, and added his own comments to try and balance the conversation.

"Also, why add such harsh attitudes and language to the Digimon, if they were all created by MAGAMI?"

Dmitri raised an eyebrow at him, but he ignored him and continued.

"I mean this is supposed to be based off a children's show, so why are half if not all of our enemies swearing as much as I do, and referring to players as 'Tamer Scum'? I mean their supposed to have corny insults and certainly attitudes that are comical at best, not downright contemptuous."

Dmitri could see the logic in what he was saying, though he could see that Colin was thinking a bit more deeply about this than he liked. Lucky spoke again, wanting to get his two cents in before they told him to shut up again.

"So anyway, questions about MAGAMI's horrible marketing skills aside, what with building hazardous games that are 'half-finished' so far as Dmitri's concerned, I think you're off the hook Colin."

"How?"

"Well, most of the people who saw you were the closest to Ogremon, and they got the most severe beatings from him. So much so that they aren't going to wake up for a while. Even if they do, they'll likely have more important things on their mind like attempting to sue MAGAMI than ratting you out to the Admins. If they can even identify you, that is."

Colin wasn't completely happy that his secret was kept by the injuries inflicted upon other players, but then he remembered that most of them were not exactly nice people. He felt only a little better about it then.

* * *

><p>They were still walking through the dark caves, not sure where they would lead out, when they heard two loud voices conversing down a passageway. Dmitri tried to dash down that one immediately, but was bared by Shin. Bringing up one claw to his mouth so as to tell him to be quiet, he directed Asami and Colin down two other passageways, where the voices could also be heard but were fainter. Taking their partners, they proceeded down their tunnels. Asami came to the end of hers first, which just opened up in the middle of the hollow mountain. Looking down, she saw that it was quite a drop if she didn't mind her step. Kotemon looked down himself briefly, before retreating a few paces and embracing the wall. Asami turned back and smiled teasingly at him.<p>

"What, this can't be any higher than the drop at the mine."

"At least then it was built to look that way, mistress. This isn't necessarily as sturdy as the mine."

"My god, the mighty Kotemon afraid of a little height."

"How can a program be afraid, mistress?"

She realized this too, and instead of telling herself that this was just another overly elaborate script her 'anomaly' of a partner was spewing, a part of her accepted the idea that maybe her partner was sentient, even if she had little reason beyond the Digimon's word. Before they could converse further, they both heard the conversation from earlier grow heated.

"You mean to tell me that ALL of the Brothers have been deleted?

"…yes my Master."

Looking out of their hole, they saw Saberdramon speaking with his 'master'. The Airdramon, just as Shin had said, was coiled up in a large nest, sitting in the middle of the large hole inside the mountain. His red wings glistened in the shaft of light that poured out of the mountain's hole. Asami had seen illustrations of the Digimon, as well as the ones in the anime, but the skull that adjourned its head and its serpentine green tail were more intimidating in person. She made sure not to make a sound from where they were, feeling not as sure about taking him on as she had before. Kotemon peeked below them, scared to at first, but then he saw the heads of Dmitri and Candlemon poke out of the path they had followed. Candlemon spotted him and waved silently, tugging Dmitri's shirt to get his attention. He looked up and was about to say something, when Asami hushed him like Shin had earlier. Pouting, but understanding, Dmitri complied. Airdramon was continuing to rage at his subordinate.

"This island, this accused weak island. I had hoped to raise a force strong enough to overthrow that imbecilic Tyrannomon duo, but the Digimon here are so content to let disgusting humans infiltrate our world, that the only Digimon I could hope to rely on are a gang of thugs and their equally as idiotic rabble. And You, my right wing, you couldn't even bring the lion here. Please do tell me again, why was that?"

"As I had said earlier, Master, there were three Tamers there, the ones who were responsible for the Brother's downfall."

"All three of them? Really?"

Asami was wondering now where the hell Colin, Maul and Shin had gotten off to, as she wasn't sure how long they were supposed to wait before trying to attack the two of them. She wasn't eager to try, as Saberdramon was a Champion of greater power than then any of the ones they had faced before, the last one forcing them to use almost all their cards at once. And if this was his boss, then they were definitely in for a difficult fight. Especially if what Shin said about him going Ultimate was true…

"Are these three the ones that just caused the recent disturbance we felt earlier?"

"That is likely, as they now possess the Brother's data, which you granted the ability to access this cave."

"And do please remind me, Saberdramon, who told me that these three were worthy to stand before me and guard such a gift?"

"…me, Master."

"…**Spinning Needle!**"

Multiple needles blasted out of Airdramon's hair, striking Saberdramon all over his body. The Digimon didn't try to resist the attack, he simply took it. Kotemon watched in disbelief at the act before him.

"Why is it that everyone involved with that gang is incapable of treating their subordinates properly? Why treat a Digimon in such a vicious way, he could have just reprimanded him."

Asami looked down at her partner, and patted his head.

"Some people just don't know another way to get things done. And some of them do, but are just so cruel that they prefer to do it this way."

"I dislike both such people."

Asami nodded, before she spotted Shin crouching under the rock Airdramon's nest was on. A tiny bit of her was annoyed. _Oh, so he took the way directly to them. Why was he so set to have us go the other way?!_ She then remembered her lack of desire to face Airdramon, especially after what he just did to Saberdramon, and told her inner spiteful self to be quiet. She was concerned a little bit though. _Where's Colin and Kumamon?_

* * *

><p>Having found that the tunnel Shin had pointed them down took them what was likely to be the opposite side of the cave, Colin and Kumamon were not particularly fond of the lion for making them take the long way. Still, they kept going until they heard Airdramon's attack, or at least what they assumed to be Airdramon's attack, as Colin didn't remember him from when Jack had him sit through the show, and that 'Spinning Needle' certainly wasn't Saberdramon's. Coming to the end of their path, the peeked out of their hole, which was actually on the ground, and looked up to see a wounded Saberdramon wheezing before a winged serpent Digimon Maul and Colin assumed was Airdramon.<p>

"What are we supposed to do now, Colin?"

"Wait for Shin's signal I guess, he seems to have some sort of plan."

Being on the opposite side, Colin couldn't see Shin like Asami and Kotemon could, but Colin could spot those two high up in their hole in the wall. Not sure if it would be a wise idea to signal them, not unless he wanted to risk signaling Airdramon to their presence as well, Colin waited in his own small cave. _This was a horrible plan Shin. You better make up for it with something fantastic._

Airdramon looked down on his subordinate, disgusted with the whole affair, before sniffing the air and sighing.

"Come out of hiding, _Elder_, I know you're here."

When Shin didn't comply, Airdramon took flight and roared throughout the entire cavern.

"I said COME OUT! YOU'VE CAUSED ME ENOUGH TROUBLE SINCE I LANDED ON THIS INSIPID LITTLE ROCK, SO COME OUT SO WE CAN SETTLE THIS!"

"**Fist of the Beast King!**"

Airdramon looked down in surprise just in time to see what was going to hit him. As the flaming lion head smashed against his underbelly, Airdramon could make out Shin's figure holding a burning hand up, smiling up at him.

"Well Airdramon, if I came out on command I wouldn't have been able to get in a shot like that, now would I?"

Airdramon glared daggers and Shin, and the three Tamers in their respective caves felt shivers run down their spines.

"…**Tornado.**"

No shouting, not fanfare, just a very firm 'Tornado'. And on command, a spiral of wind erupted in the middle of the cavern, or rather right next to Shin, exactly where Airdramon was glaring. The lion man was flung up into the air, before the tornado shot him towards Saberdramon, as if on purpose. The three Tamer took this as their cue to activate their weak codes and start to try and help, as Shin managed to steady himself while Saberdramon took flight, ready to finish him off and get back in good graces with his Master.

"**Black Saber!**"

"**Beast Sword!**"

Saberdramon found himself slashing with Shin's blade, who was managing to successfully struggle with him in midair for the moment, like a swordsman out of an anime who didn't care about gravity.

"I will serve your head to my Master on a silver platter!"

"Somehow I think my friends won't agree with that idea."

**Digi-Modify: Digivolution Activate!**

Kumamon…digivolve to…**Grizzlymon! Hah!**

Kotemon…digivolve to…**DinoHyumon! Humph!**

Candlemon…digivolve to…**Meramon!**

**Digi-Modify: Aero Wings Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Unimon Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Flymon Activate!**

The three Digimon soared towards Saberdramon, their Tamers absent from their side. Airdramon noticed this, and started to scan the caves with his eyes throughout his cavern. Asami noticed his gaze was almost on her cave, and backed away quickly so as to not get spotted. _I'm probably going to have to move to one of the other holes. Hope I can still supply DinoHyumon as I go._

"**Aerial Attack! Crescent Dawn!**"

"**Brown Stingers! Fireball!**"

Maul assaulted Saberdramon with Unimon's signature attack as well as his own ranged attack, while Meramon quickly regretted the strategy he had chosen, as the ignited stingers did little to harm Saberdramon. Shin had climbed on top of Saberdramon's leg at this point, and was working his way to climbing up the giant bird's back when it spun around, leaving Shin to drop. The bird ignored the other two Digimon and focused its efforts on eliminating Leomon.

"**Night Roar!**"

The black 'Meteor Wing' rocketed towards Shin, who blasted away some of the flames with his own 'Fist of the Beast King', but knew that some of the black flames would reach him.

"**Aerial Attack! Aerial Attack! Aerial Attack!**"

"**Lizard Dance!**"

Maul tried his best to blast apart as many flames as he could target, and DinoHyumon spun and flew through the flames, slightly damaging him as he dispersed them. Dmitri saw that his partner might only just add to Saberdramon's power at this point and reluctantly repeated the strategy he had tried before.

**Digi-Modify: Hyogamon Activate!**

"**Snow Punch!**"

Striking Saberdramon squarely in the chest, Meramon smiled to himself as the flaming bird was smacked into the rock beneath his boss's nest. Airdramon looked down on his subordinate distastefully, disengaging for his search for the Tamers for the moment.

"Village spawn are harming you, Saberdramon. This is the power you think worthy of aiding me?"

"Now don't be too hard on him, Airdramon. I mean, his 'master' got sucker punched by their village elder. So he's really just as competent as his dear old master."

"**Spinning Needle!**"

The four Digimon spun, flew, and generally dodged out of the way of Airdramon's wrath. Meramon couldn't help but chuckle at this as he avoided three spikes meant for his face.

"A bit touchy that one, isn't he?"

"You don't know the half of it. When he first got here following a Whamon, he was livid that none of us wanted to join him on his little crusade."

DinoHyumon nearly got impaled by a needle, being distracted by that last bit.

"Wait, he was the one the elders were going on about? What does he even want to do?"

"Let's just say that those Tyrannomon he was going on about early rule the Dragon, Dinosaur and Humanoid Digimon population of Server Continent. Airdramon was an upstart who wanted control, but since the other two were more experienced Ultimates, they beat him and reduced him back to his Champion state you see before you."

"Wow, I like those guys already. They seem nice."

Shin just nodded at Maul's comment, though inside he knew better. _Yeah, well Maul their not entirely fond of Beast Digimon like you or me. So don't get your hopes up of partying with them or anything._ He didn't know why he didn't say something out loud about that, besides the fact that they were more occupied with the job of dodging the last of Airdramon's volley. Asami at least was likely to go to Server, while Colin seems to be the fence now about this world and Dmitri…he'll tag along so long as he's being paid to. _I hope the crap going on over there doesn't separate these three if they do go. There's a reason I prefer island life to the turmoil over there._

**Digi-Modify: Frigimon Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Crabmon Activate!**

"**Subzero Ice Punch!**"

"**Scissor Magic!**"

Saberdramon found itself pelted with ice and water attacks from three different flying nuisances. It struggled against the blasts to get up, but kept getting knocked back down under their combined force.

"Enough of this, **Night Roar!**"

Black flames clashed with the wintery gales and the slashes of water energy. The struggle went on for a few moments, before the three attacks triumphed over the one, smashing into Saberdramon again, only this time the damage was permanent.

"Noooooo!"

Meramon's and Maul's attacks froze Saberdramon in place, and DinoHyumon dashed in for the final attack, only to be beaten there by Shin.

"**Beast Sword!**"

Stabbing his sword into the frozen Digimon, Saberdramon shattered into fragments, before his data flew up and was absorbed…by Airdramon. Shin backed away in shock, as the previously angry Digimon put on a cruel smile.

"Wondering what just happened, didn't you? Well I might as well let you all in on the secret. But first…**Tornado!**"

The three flying Digimon tried to get away, DinoHyumon making a grab for Shin to help him, but they were all caught in the wind storm and tossed about the cavern, all of them hitting a wall before falling to the ground, their wings all deactivating at the same time. Airdramon continued to smile as he spoke.

"As big a disappoint to me as he was, Saberdramon was my loyal second-in-command, and as such there are some guarantees that come with the role. When I agreed to take him on under my wing, I placed a program in him that would activate upon his deletion. Any Digimon that wasn't me that defeated Saberdramon wouldn't receive the data, but instead it would be sent flying to me. Obviously I had no reason to delete him myself prior to a moment ago, as he supplied me with random island denizens that strolled to close to my mountain."

"**Crescent Dawn!**"

"**Magma Blast!**"

Grizzlymon and Meramon launched attacks at Airdramon's head, apparently not in the mood for a lecture or monologue. Airdramon sniffed indignantly, and flapped his wings a little.

"**Tornado.**"

A smaller tornado appeared before him, absorbing the attacks and then dispersing. Airdramon looked down on the four in disgust.

"The Tamer pets are trying to attack me. That's the worst part about this infernal island."

Dmitri felt his D-Arc glow warm and looking down at it he found that it was glowing hot red. He quickly started to take the strap off that connected it to his arm as it grew hotter. Colin looked up at the flying Airdramon from his cave, and he saw an unwelcome but familiar red glow take hold of it. Airdramon continued his rant.

"It's bad enough that it's littered with disgusting Beast type sub-Digimon, who should be more than glad at the prospect of helping me topple Dinosaur Digimon tyrants who are far less lenient than I. It's bad enough that the only willing Digimon to be found here are virus thugs with barbaric behavior, as useful as it might be in this wretched place. But no, this had to be just as bad as what the Fossil Capital has become: a den for Human filth."

Despite recognizing what was about to happen, and feeling a little injured from the tornado attack, Maul shared a look with Meramon and DinoHyumon, who both nodded.

"Did he just call us human filth, or are Tamers? At this point, I'm not sure who he's referring to."

"Does it matter?"

"Nope, still going to kill him."

Airdramon laughed.

"Oh are you now? Little children Champions such as yourselves. Well, DinoHyumon, is it?"

Airdramon turned to face one cave hole specifically, and Asami ran back as she realized she'd been spotted.

"Let's see if I can rip apart your 'partner' before you can lay a blow on me. **Spinning Needle!**"

Asami ran faster than she believed was human possible to avoid even being clipped by the incredibly fast car-sized needles blasting apart the tunnel she was in and flying by her at all sides.

"ASAMI!"

DinoHyumon called out his partner name, for the first time. But he wasn't alone, as Dmitri looked up at the hole his friend had hopefully just vacated, and Colin ran out on instinct, briefly forgetting that he was exposing himself.

"Ah, another soft-skin rears his ill-designed head. Is this your mate I'm trying to spit roast? Please tell me it is, it makes the experience all the more worthwhile."

Glaring red hot at Airdramon, Colin ignored Grizzlymon's pleading look.

"Partner, get back in the cave. You're in more danger out here than she is in there!"

**Digi-Modify: Hyper Speed Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Wild Gloves Equipped!**

Airdramon laughed as Grizzlymon dashed ahead of the others, taking DinoHyumon on his back and vaulting him up towards Airdramon as the red glow started to intensify.

"Ah yes, the modifying system. Letting little worthless half-Digimon like you pretend you're as strong as a Kuwagamon. Well I'm no Kuwagamon, lizard."

"SHUT UP! **AKINAKES!**"

DinoHyumon was about to bring down his blade with as much force as he could muster, but Airdramon started to flap his wings again.

"**Tornado!**"

The tornado tossed the lizard Digimon about a few times before launching him into a charging Meramon, the two of them tumbling down the rocks that reached up to Airdramon's hanging tail. Maul made a leap for it, only to be stopped by an enormous Digi-Egg, that then started to form into upside red Pyramid.

**-WARNING! WARNING! BOSS DIGIMON DIGVOVLING! REPEAT BOS-ANOMALY DIGIVOVLING TO ULTIMATE!-**

**Airdramon**…digivolve to…**Megadramon! Uuuraaaaah!**

Shattering the pyramid with twin nasty-looking mechanical claws, Megadramon hovered above his foes, at first looking over his reacquired body with curiosity and awe.

"Was I really this huge before? Oh what does it matter, it's good to have my old form back."

DinoHyumon recovered from the earlier attack, at first barely managing to steady himself on his blade, before he suddenly felt himself feel relieved and refreshed. Looking over to the smoking hole where Asami was before, he saw to figures emerge from a hole closer to the ground. Looking down, he saw Dmitri and Asami emerge from the cave, and he was relieved for the briefest of moments before remembering what a mess they were in right then. Colin looked over and saw the two, and mentally made a memo to thank God repeatedly later. He didn't even stop to remind himself 'it's just a game' like he stupidly had before. Game or not, the damage was real, and he didn't want Asami to go through anything like what Seadramon's tail had done to him.

Shin put on a brave front, though he refrained from taunting Megadramon.

"Nice claws."

"Why thank you. I must say, it is a massive change to go from mostly limbless to death spraying muscular arms."

Colin turned back to Megadramon, staring him down. Megadramon shared the look for the briefest of moments, before flapping his wings and beginning to rise. Colin shouted at him as he Maul ran over to nudge him onto his back.

"Where the fuck are you going, we're in the middle of a fight!"

"This island needs to be purge. I'll be back to deal with you later."

"Oh no you don't!"

DinoHyumon jumped and grabbed onto Megadramon's tail, before quickly 'securing' his grip by stabbing him with his butcher knives. Colin leapt off of Maul and did the same, but Maul was unable to follow, going too fast and having been able to time his jump right to join his partner. Asami was too far away to do the same, and by the time Meramon tried to do the same Megadramon was to high up for even an on the spot 'Ironman' thruster attempt (imagine Meramon using his flames the same way Ironman uses his repulsar to fly in the movies). Megadramon soared into the sky, his light cargo clinging on for dear life as he left on his mission of death.

* * *

><p>"Colin!"<p>

"DinoHyumon!"

Maul and Asami looked up in desperations as their respective partners disappeared along with their enemy. Dmitri turned to Shin, looking frantic as he spoke.

"Where is he headed?! Shin, we got to go, so tell us where you think he's going!"

"I don't know, why are you asking me?!"

"You always seem to know what to do. If we don't hurry, Colin could fall. If people can be damaged by what happens to them here, then…"

Asami glared fiercely at him.

"Don't say that. And what about DinoHyumon, he's there too. We have to find now!"

Shin calmed himself down, knowing that freaking out would help no one.

"Lucky, are you there? We need your help."

"They're headed for Primary Village. With all the Tamers that Ogremon attacked being likely not to return, there are a bunch of new players ripe for the picking, as well as many new In-Training sentient Digimon."

Shin smacked himself in the head for realizing that himself.

"Of course he'd start there; it's the main source of his hatred for this island."

He ran off, before turning back towards the others.

"Well come on, we have to find a way out of here."

"The entrance was sealed up, remember?!"

Shin didn't like Dmitri any more so than usual, but that wasn't helping at all. Lucky quickly defused the situation.

"Guys, I may be able to help. Though this may hurt a little, and Asami…you might become 'illegal' yourself if I do this wrong and someone see you."

"Do what wrong? Never mind, just do it!"

Dmitri was about to protest and actually ask what Lucky was about to attempt, but before he could the five of them were enveloped in light pillars similar to the ones that bring the Tamers in and out of the world. Instead of doing that however, they each formed little orbs and sped off, a call going out saying.

**-Players Fast Travelling to Primary Path!-**

* * *

><p>DinoHyumon hadn't expected human company when he launched himself onto Megadramon, nor evidently had the Ultimate itself. Annoyed that he could scale higher up his enemy, or else risk losing Asami's friend, DinoHyumon maneuvered over with his butcher knives to where Colin was barely holding on. Grabbing him just as his grip began to loosen, the lizard man kept himself at glaring at Colin while holding on tightly with his other hand.<p>

"What were you thinking?!"

"The same as you, clearly! That I wasn't about to let this asshole fly off after what he tried to do to Asami!"

DinoHyumon looked at the human in his grasp curiously at first, before nodding.

"While I understand the feeling, what exactly could you do? No offense, but if you could fight an Ultimate directly, I doubt Maul would have much to do. Let us handle it."

"By us you mean you right? 'Cause we're kind of alone up here."

Nodding grimly, DinoHyumon knew that their best chance was if Megadramon got to where he was flying to soon, so that at least he could set Colin down. Even then, without Asami to supply him with Modify cards, the fight would be a swift victory for Megadramon. And without Maul, Colin might as well throw rocks at the giant.

Luckily for the two of them, they had made it to their destination, and DinoHyumon's eyes widened as he saw his home before him.

"no."

That weak little cry was all he could manage, as the seriousness of the threat Megadramon posed became clearer to him. This wasn't going to be like it was back as popsicle town. There the residents could fight back and stand a chance. This was an Ultimate knocking on the door of a town full of Rookies and In-Trainings. It was going to be a slaughter.

Megadramon looked back at his 'passengers', giving them a mean smile as they descended.

"You're home, little cur. Cherish this moment, as it will be the last you see of it. Then you're next."

Shaking his tail roughly, DinoHyumon realized that he had allowed them to grab hold of him, as now he found it extremely difficult to hold on. Taking Colin closer to him and tucking him in, DinoHyumon dislodged his last knife from Megadramon's tail and dropped 30 feet, landing carefully just along the entrance to Fresh Forest. Colin rolled out of his grasp, feeling a bit woozy but none the worse for wear. Then he saw Megadramon launch his first attack.

"**Dark Side Attack!**"

From within his metal claws, multiple organic looking missiles launched themselves. Multiple fluffy Yuramon looked up at the incoming warheads, and jumped up and down, thinking they were fireworks. They were gone in an instant, and their friends, Yokomon, Chapmon, and many others started to cry intensely and hop away in fear. The automated Elecmon came out, and saw the boss Digimon floating there. The Elders ignored the crying In-Trainings, and shot bolts of electricity up at Megadramon.

"Lightning Knife."

"Super Thunder Strike."

Megadramon shrugged off the assault, glaring in disgust at the attempt.

"The humans send their drones to stop me. It's almost amusing in a way."

New Tamers came running out of the Elder's hut, and seeing the huge Digimon above them many of them back up into the hut again. The braver few went over to the Elders.

"Is that guy the first boss?"

"…it's the final boss, but the players engaging it must have either lost or gotten left behind. Either way, beating it yourself earns you a trip to Server."

A couple of the Tamers pumped their fists, excited at such an opportunity. One of the Tamers from the assembled group brought up the obvious.

"Not to rain on everyone's parade, but we all only have Rookies at the moment, and last I checked that up there is an Ultimate. We don't stand a chance."

"GRAAAAHHHH! **Lizard Dance!**"

The New Tamers saw a lizard man Digimon leaping on top of a hut, before leaping off of that onto Megadramon's tail, and it began to climb in a berserk stabbing rage, trying to reach the Digimon's neck. Megadramon jerked and turned here and there, trying to shake his huge flea loose. Some of the Tamers spotted an African American boy running down the path towards them.

"Damn, is that his partner? Which one of these little guys to I have to grab to get that Digimon; he's awesome!"

Megadramon had managed to free himself of DinoHyumon's annoyance, and as the lizard man found himself immobile in mid-air, Megadramon used one of his claws to volleyball spike the lizard to the ground, hard.

"Oh Crap, DinoHyumon!"

Rushing over to where he had seen the Digimon land, Colin came across Kapurimon instead of DinoHyumon.

"Jesus, I knew he hit you hard, but damn. Come on buddy."

Scooping up Asami's partner, Colin saw Megadramon had obviously noticed him. He smiled down at the little human.

"How precious, you're looking after her mate's pet. I'm sure she'll thank your corpse for trying, however worthless the attempt when I'm done with you."

"Bite me, you overgrown salamander."

Kapurimon groaned at Colin's choice of words.

"Oh I'll do better than that. **Ultimate Slicer!**"

Opening his claws wide, Colin saw arcs of energy run across each metal talon as Megadramon flew down incredibly fast at the two of them. He tried to run, but he knew that Megadramon was too huge to escape in time. He closed his eyes, preparing for the pain when wonderfully familiar attacks were called out.

"**Crescent Dawn!**"

"**Fireball!**"

"**Fist of the Beast King!**"

Megadramon literally paused his attack to turn his head at his returning foes. He was more than a little surprised to be seeing them so soon again, after leaving them in that cave.

"Well look who made it out. Still as painful as a smear of lotion, but look at you trying to hurt me."

"Oh we'll do more than try. Leave my friend alone."

Megadramon stared directly at Dmitri, not at all worried.

"Or what?"

**Digi-Modify: Starmon Activate!**

"**Meteor-**"

Recognizing the attack, Colin sprinted to get out of the blast radius, running into the village. Megadramon didn't even try to stop him, grinning at Meramon and outstretching his arms as a challenge.

"-**Shower!**"

Meteors struck Megadramon all over, and while he was forced to move limbs back due to the force of the blows, he continued to smile throughout. One thing that did annoy him once his lack of sight due to the explosions the meteors made upon impact, but that's nothing to be worried abo-

"**Beast Sword!**"

Shin suddenly appeared right in front of Megadramon's face, and using his blade cut at his eye, which was wide upon in shock.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH! You damn cat, I will blast you to junk data."

Leomon landed and raced over to Colin, knowing that Megadramon who spend a moment or two nursing his eye. He saw Kapurimon in Colin's arms, and grew worried.

"Is he-?"

"He's breathing, or at least he's stable. Not de-stabilizing or anything like that."

"I'm surprised, though very relieved to hear that."

"Colin! DinoHyumon!"

Asami came racing down to them, passing by a still thrashing Megadramon and going by the Elders, who watched as she ran up to him. The other Tamers were more concerned with trying their luck with the now wounded Megadramon.

"Come on Agumon, get him!"

"**Pepper Breath!**"

"Stink Jet."

Megadramon didn't seem to notice or care about the Rookie attacks still using his claw to nurse his eye.

A Tamer who somehow already had a Tortomon pushed aside the other to get in front.

"Back up, let a master handle this. Tortomon?"

"Complying. Strong Carapace."

As the spikes launched off his back and struck Megadramon, Asami tackled Colin with a hug, embracing Kapurimon at the same time. The boy blushed, stunned at the sudden act, but quickly hugged back. He couldn't deny that he was happy to see her. She seemed to feel a little differently, as in the next moment she was striking both Kapurimon and him on the head.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"What the HELL were you two thinking, jumping on him like that?"

"He was getting away, what else could we do?"

Kapurimon nodded in Colin's arm, but a very angry look from Asami ceased all further bobbing.

"Did you think for even one second what a fall from that high could do to you? You're already banged up from Seadramon earlier, so do you want to hurt yourself further. Heck, you could have died!"

"Mistress, he was trying to-"

"Kapurimon, not now!"

Megadramon had stopped massaging his eye, and with his good remaining one he ignored Meramon's attempts to attack him from behind and stared into the village directly at Shin (and now the foolish Tortomon). The Elders had foolish turned their attention to the two arguing Tamers, and didn't notice Megadramon opening up his claws again. Grizzlymon saw this and left Meramon and Dmitri's side to try and warn Colin.

"This is the thanks I get for trying to get him back for you?!"

"I didn't ask you to do that. I don't NEED you to do that, because if you hadn't noticed I got out of the way!"

"Well sorry, next time I won't try to-"

That was a lie, because he just saw Megadramon charge up his claws again, and with Asami having her back to him he knew that he had little choice but to knock her aside.

"Get DOWN!"

"**Dark Side Attack!**"

The Elders were the first to go, alongside the hut they were standing next to. The Tamers were tossed about, some instantly being booted because their partners were deleted, others suffering major damage from taking a blast like that straight to the face. As Colin pushed Asami out of the way, which really meant flat against the ground, he felt several pointy things embed themselves in his right leg as he himself fell. When he landed, he saw a few large splinters sticking out of his leg, and the pain was understandably great.

Asami pushed up from the ground to see this, and regretted her early attitude.

"Colin!"

She started to crawl over to him, but saw Megadramon preparing to pepper them with his attack again. She then noticed that she couldn't see Shin, and looking around she saw him on his back with his feet sticking out of the wall he had flown through. _The attack only hit the ground, not targets specifically_. Asami was half relieved; because it means that without both eyes Megadramon couldn't hit them directly. Unfortunately, this meant that he'd just fire blindly, and he had little problem doing that.

"No more games, I'm deleting the entire lot of you!"

"Colin, Asami! Look out!"

"**Dark Sider Attack!**"

Grizzlymon managed to pick the two of them up with his mouth, and fling them farther from the blast. The two rolled out of Primary Village and onto the Net Ocean Beach. Asami quickly got up to check on Colin, who was little worse off do to the roll having cause some of the splinters to either break and re-enter in other places, or dig deeper. She held his head in her arms.

"Colin, we have to get up! Come on, get up!"

Kapurimon had obviously fallen out of Colin's grip by this time and was lying on the beach next to them. With what energy he had left, he hopped over to where they had left Maul. The Digimon had been reduced back to Kumamon, and was barely standing in defiance. Megadramon didn't care at this point, and was charging up again.

"**Magma Blast!**"

Meramon slid in front of his friend and started lobbing molten rocks up at Megadramon, who still act as if it was doing no damage to him, but by this point the he was starting to feel weary and bruised. Even an Ultimate can't continually take mass amounts of abuse for long. But he didn't need long.

Dmitri ran over to this friends, and the look of Colin's leg with wood piercing it caused him to pause in front of him. He just didn't know how to react.

"…why is this happening? Why the hell is this all happening?!"

He briefly turned to survey the village, seeing In-Trainings huddled in corners crying, the few sentient and independent Rookies trying to guard them with their bodies from the next attack. The Tamers who were still in play were tossed about like rag dolls, in no better condition to move than Colin. In fact one of those Tamers looked famila- oh great.

Reiko was walking towards them, or rather stiffly walking. The injuries the Goblimon and Thundermon had given her earlier were causing her some trouble with her legs, but she managed to make over to the three. Looking down at Colin, she didn't say a word, but motioned for her Labramon to come over. Pointing at the boy's leg, the dog paused for a moment, before 'complying'.

"Cure Liquor."

Blue sparkles and drops of some form of liquid hit Colin's leg, which seemed to cause the it to spit out the shrapnel and stitch itself up, though it wasn't completely healed. Asami looked up at Reiko, and nodded.

"Thank you."

Reiko shrugged.

"For all the good it will do."

Dmitri looked at Reiko in confusion.

"Why are you helping us? You don't like us, and we sure as hell don't like you. So why would you do that?"

"…I just thought this would be fun before, okay? When those Admin guys told me you were cheaters, what did you expect me to do, let you go? But all of this, the damage we can take here…I can hear the others in the arcade room being taken away, it's that loud. So if I can at least help someone out and let them wake up when they log off of this shitty game, then I should."

Dmitri just sat there in the sand, and Megadramon neared finishing his charge. Shin had managed to get up out of the wall he was in, and saw what had become of his home. Looking back, he saw the Tamer he had chosen huddled together, and Meramon desperately peppering Megadramon, being the last Champion still active. He sighed to himself, set in what he felt to be his fate. _I guess I chose poorly. They were good kids, but it appears they weren't tough enough for this world._

"…this can't be a game."

Shin turned around and saw Dmitri get, and start running towards Megadramon. _Oh god, he's lost it!_

"You! Yeah you, ugly! I get it, this isn't a fucking game. No human would go out of their way to create such crappy creature like you willingly, and trust me, I know crappy humans. Everything in this fucking world has been trying to tell me that they're real. So fine, you're fucking real. And you feel that we're invading your world. You're points fucking made, asshole! Are you happy now?! Did you really have to try and kill a bunch of kids, and freaking babies of your own kind before you thought that message could get across?! Did you really have to be that extreme?!"

Megadramon didn't answer, besides in the typical attacking manner.

"**Dark Side ATTACK!**"

"Dmitri, for the love of Azulongmon, GET DOWN!"

The burning sensation Dmitri felt wasn't from the missiles, but from Meramon shoving him into the doorway of a still standing building. As he slid across the glossed floor, he could see out the door his partner being blasted by at least five flying organic missiles. The partner who up until now-

_I've treated Candlemon like a tool this entire time. When Colin briefly did that to Maul, I should have realized how messed up that was. I even had him fight when he was at the point of exhaustion._

"Candlemon!"

Dmitri rushed over to his partner, also in his Rookie form but in worse shape than Maul. He was de-stabilizing and reforming, just like Maul was back at Mirror Lake. Cupping the candle Digimon in his arms, Dmitri broke down.

"I'm sorry buddy. I was an asshole. The others talked to their partners, and I just thought they were being otakus. I'm sorry, okay? Don't you dare go away!"

…**do you want to save him?**

Dmitri felt his D-Arc hum as the mysterious voice spoke. Colin got a similar message as he lay in Asami's grasp.

**Do you want to save your friends?**

Their response was the same.

"Yes, damn it!"

**Very Well. Let's see how you handle this power.**

The weakened Kumamon and Candlemon started to glow yellow, and Colin tried to stand up properly to see what was going on in the village. Asami helped steady him as he looked on, before he felt his D-Arc buzz and he looked down to read the message.

**DNA Digivolution Ready. Begin?**

He immediately pressed down on yes, and knew that Dmitri had to be doing the same over there. Megadramon wasn't going to waste his time with another volley, and wanted to take out the glowing opponents as quickly as possible.

"I don't know what you're planning, but I'm stopping it now!"

**DNA Digivolution Activate!**

Kumamon…digivolve to…**Grizzlymon!**

Candlemon…digivolve to…**Meramon!**

Dmitri let go of Candlemon the minute the data egg formed, and his partner smiled and nodded down at him as he emerged, still glowing yellow. The two of them then rocketed upwards, before spinning around one another, all the while a red pyramid formed around them as well.

**Meramon**…**Grizzlymon…**DNA Digivolve to…**BlueMeramon! Kyaa!**

* * *

><p>"<strong>Ultimate Slicer!<strong>"

"…**Cold Flame.**"

Emerging out of their pyramid, the blue, larger version of Meramon held up one hand, and launched a flamethrower of blue fire at Megadramon's outstretched open claw. The claw froze in an instant, and the flesh connected to the mechanical blades started to burn.

"AAHHHH! No…no way. You can reach Ultimate too?!"

BlueMeramon just stared at him, very coldly.

"You tried to kill our Tamers. We are not very fond of you."

Megadramon backed away, his frozen hand cracking a bit with each passing moment.

"Stay…stay back!"

"This is the Digimon who thought he was a conqueror; a scared bully just like his minions. You disgust us!"

"Stay back! **Dark Side Attack!**"

He thought he had mentally fired with only his good hand. Megadramon ended up blasting apart his frozen one as well, sending his shots soaring into the air, away from any viable targets.

"**Harpoon Torpedo (9x)!**"

Colin and Asami turned around to see a school of Ikkakumon coming ashore, with a larger group of Gomamon accompanying them. Asami noticed one of the Gomamon smiling up at her, and then something occurred to her.

_These are the Gomamon from Mirror Lake. This must be their family!_

The attacks smashed against Megadramon, sending him flying backwards some more. Seeing that things were not going his way, the 'great' Megadramon opted to try and flee back to his mountain. BlueMeramon was no longer allowing that to be an option.

"**Ice Phantom!**"

Appearing up in front of Megadramon, having run faster than expected of him, BlueMeramon released a gust of cold air that took on his shape, only large. It passed through Megadramon, turning him to solid ice, before shattering into thousands of shards. Then something wonderful happened. Not corny, not miraculous, but still wonderful.

The excess data that the Ultimate let out had not only refueled BlueMeramon, but channeled to Kapurimon and Labramon as well. Some of the other Tamers' Digimon were given some data, and they perked up a bit. Their partners were still unconscious in game, and the Village was still decimated. But many In-Trainings and Rookies remained and were happy to be alive.

Shin came over to his 'team' kneeling before Colin who was once more on the ground.

"I'm sorry it took this to make you believe that we're more than just a game."

"…I really don't know what to say to that. Yeah, I'm sorry to. For earlier as well, I shouldn't have been such an ass."

Shin chuckled, shaking his head.

"I thought we agreed that we were both acting stupid. Besides, it was that damn Shamanmon's doing mostly."

"Yeah, stupid Shamanmon."

BlueMeramon had flown over to the beach near them, though he reacted like a cat to the water, eyeing it darkly. Dmitri returned to his friends' side, kneeling by Colin as well.

"Are you okay, comrade?"

Weakly smiling, he nodded his head. He then looked up to Asami.

"So, some game, huh?"

She nodded weakly, just tired from all of this.

"Yeah some game."

Shin could see they were all rather tired, and didn't want to push things.

"If you all don't ever want to see the look of this place again, I can understand. It's a rather harsh place for humans, even with partners."

Asami and Colin both looked like they wanted to say something, but Dmitri beat them to it.

"I'm not chickening out that easily."

They both looked at him incredulously. BlueMeramon started to shimmer, and then split back into Maul and Candlemon, who still hissed at the water. But having heard what his partner had said, he turned to him, wondering what his reasons were. Staring down at Candlemon for the first time with a look that was warm, Dmitri moved to pat his head, before thinking better of it and instead hugged his partner. Both Asami and Colin's mouths dropped open at this, having not expected Dmitri to act that way. Placing the happy candle down, he turned to Shin.

"I have a lot to make up to this little guy for. Besides, we just reached Ultimate level. Granted, we needed Colin's help-"

Colin managed to get out of his funk to retort back.

"Oh fuck you, it's as much Maul's Ultimate form as it is Candlemon's."

"Yeah, if anything you guys helped US!"

Dmitri rolled his eyes, and Candlemon smiled as he continued.

"Please, in case you could hear, what with some wood having gotten lodged in your brain, his name was Blue**Meramon**. That's my partner, comrade, not yours."

Asami smiled as the two boys went at it verbally, trying to prove the worth of their partner over the other. Seeing Kapurimon looking lonely by himself, she went over and scooped him up, hugging him and scratching his tail.

"Hey Kap."

"Hey Asami. You're not going to leave, are you?"

Looking down at the little furball, she thought for a moment. She had just fought a creature that had tried to kill her. Considering the damage being done to other players, it really could have. A guy she's starting to like nearly died trying to pull off some stupid macho stunt to try and protect her (as well as his own partner and other friends). And to top it all off, she was now seriously considering the idea that her 'game character' was real, and had real emotions. Any sane person would tell her to log off, trash her VR terminal, and not look back.

"No Kap, I'm not leaving. You'll be seeing more of me than you know."

Kapurimon smiled nuzzled her. Shin started to shimmer too, and regressed back to his Elecmon form. Looking at the kids he had chosen to align himself with and had a little smile. _They want to stay. They went through all of that just a moment ago, and they want to stay._ He paused, not sure if he should push his luck, but decided to speak anyway.

"Uh kids?"

They all turned to him, Reiko having walked off a moment ago, knowing that she wouldn't be wanted. Shin took a moment before continuing.

"Asami, tomorrow when you log on you be told that there's a boat waiting for you here to take you to the Server Continent. Don't go on, or you won't be able to be accompanied by these guys."

She nodded, but had to ask something.

"But isn't that the official way to get to Server?"

"Yes."

"But if I don't take it, won't that just make the company suspect me more?"

"Right now, you are the only legal player amongst us, thanks to your family."

Colin's face soured a moment, but he changed back, not wanting to spoil the moment.

"-You can in fact take other ways to Server, and it will be treated as proof of your skill at navigating the Digital World. Besides, it's no safer on the boat then the way I'm about to suggest."

Now Colin spoke.

"Why's that?"

"Because technically, all though MAGAMI is responsible for starting the creation of the Digital World, the only parts that they properly control are the File Islands."

_Right, the multiple File Islands. Wait a minute._

"So what you're saying is that unlike here, we probably won't see any artificial Digimon across the Ocean?"

"There's that, yes. Also they can't really track you to over there, or rather since Lucky keep them from doing that anyway-"

"Damn right I do. Good job taking down the Ultimate by the way."

They ignored him, and Shin continued.

"You can officially take part in the company sponsored events, and they can't really do much to stop you."

Dmitri smiled at that part.

"Really?"

"Well besides sending other players after you still. Though where we're going, there's going to be little of that, considering the fact that they'll need every Tamer they can get their hands on."

"Why's that?"

Shin refrained from answering Colin's question fully, biting his lip.

"You'll see when we get there. And we'll have to talk about what you might want to do as well. I don't want to tell you guys what to do, because I know you like to help other out most of the time. But trust me when I say, don't trust most of the people, or the Digimon you meet over there. The Continent is less friendly than here."

Colin did not like the sound of that. Here, there first day was spent keeping Goblimon from bullying In-Trainings. And then being ambushed a step of their journey. What would the Continent be like?

Shin saw that they were all very tired, and said one last thing.

"It's probably best if you all logged off for now, and slept on this for tomorrow. Colin, you'll probably have no problems back at the hotel, as I doubt the Elders were able to identify you before Megadramon deleted them, and like Lucky said, most of the Tamers from earlier have been injured. Meet us through Lucky later, if you do want to come back."

Shin then turned and walked over to Primary Village, which was in serious need for a competent Elder.

Colin walked off, as well as he could, to the side of the beach near some palm trees. Leaning against one of them, he looked out at the ocean, taking in all of the day's events. He'd gone on a date, been told he can't see a girl he liked, attacked a friend because of his resulting bad mood (and a little Digital Mo-jo), fought in a battle royal of Tamers, beaten his own Ogremon Brother and the leader of the three, rode the tail of an angry Ultimate, and after getting damaged again, saw his partner achieve His DNA Digivolution (fuck what Dmitri says). Would he really come back for more, even after making such a big deal out of getting Maul back?

He heard someone coming up to him, having gone into his own world review the day's events, and saw Asami standing by him, her arms behind her back.

"Hey."

"Hey. Want to talk?"

"About what?"

"You know what about."

They stood there a second, before she continued.

"I want you to know, I do like you. Really, I do."

"But dad doesn't want you dating black boys."

"Anyone not Japanese, he doesn't have a particular group he hates-well maybe the Chinese. That gets awkward at times."

Colin didn't really smile, but he was somewhat happy to know it wasn't just his kind. Asami went on though.

"I thought about earlier today, and I think I made a mistake."

Colin's hear sank, but Asami quickly fixed that.

"I shouldn't have told Keitaro. It's his job to tell, but to tell he'd have to know, right?"

"What are you saying?"

She looked up into his eyes, before leaning over and kissing him. He didn't resist in the slightest, and pulled her closer. After a few moments (and Maul making weird faces and noises) they let go, smiling as they did.

"I'm saying, Colin Ursa, that you can stop looking so mopey. You won't be rid of me that easily."

He smiled, having glad that one thing had healed properly so far.

"I better see you here tomorrow. If you miss Kotemon reaching his Ultimate form, I'm never going to forgive you."

"I wouldn't dream of missing it."

She turned to go, before returning and pulling him down to her for another kiss. She looked up into his eyes as she disengaged, enchanting him for a moment.

"If nothing else, that felt real. Wonder what you taste like in real life."

"You can find out tomorrow."

She let him go turning around and smiling, before hitting a button on her D-Arc and disappearing into a pillar of light. _What, so she learned how to do that too? Sheesh, maybe I should look at my digivice more._

As if hearing his thoughts, Lucky said.

"Hey, if you want to leave, just hit the functions menu and scroll till you find 'Return Home'."

"That easy?"

"Yup. Dmitri has already come back, so do the same and we can all head off to bed."

Looking down at Maul, who was yawning, Colin dropped to his knees and petted his partner.

"Buddy, I just want to say I'm sorry for the way I've been the past few days."

The bear smiled at him, shaking his head.

"It's okay, I can't stay mad at you. Heck, I don't know if I can be mad with you."

Colin played with the bear's hat, before looking around him one last time. The last thing he'd see of File Island tomorrow would be the first thing he saw. It's kind of funny in a way. Doing as Lucky said, he found the Return Home option and entered it. As the pillars of light surrounded him, he said one last thing to Maul.

"I think our Adventures have only just begun pal. This was all just a prologue in the grand scheme."

* * *

><p><span>Next Arc: the DramonBeast War!


	14. Chapter 14: DragonBeast War Part 1

Disclaimer: Own not, do I, any Digimon, Kamen Rider (lyrics), or lyrics, or other pop culture/meme related content found in this fanfic.

FanAuthor's Note: This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is where things start to get serious. Also, I just noticed that I had accidently retconned one of my cards from earlier (Chapter 2, the Frigimon card was just 'Subzero Ice Punch'. Not that Maul uses any other attack when it's activated, but I've been calling it Frigimon for quite a while now. Going to keep doing that, but I should note that).

Chapter 14: Dragon/Beast War Part 1

* * *

><p>Lucky's Hideout, 9:30 a.m.

"You sure he's going to come?"

Dmitri smirked as he heard a knock on the door.

"You saw his face as he walked out of the terminal yesterday. He's got more than one reason to want to go back today."

Entering the room, Colin strode in without a single hint of limp, considering the damage his right leg had received the day before. Granted, it was partially healed by a Digimon in ga- in the Digital world, but considering what he had heard from Sara back at the hotel, the damage the other players had received was not something so easily patched up. He greeted both Dmitri and Lucky happily.

"Hey there guys, ready to get started?"

"You're in a good mood."

"Shouldn't I be? We just beat an Ultimate-level Digimon; even a Digimon heathen like me knows that's a big deal."

Lucky and Dmitri shared a look, which caused Colin to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"What?"

"You looked up a ton of Digimon wiki info last night, didn't you?

"I did not...okay, maybe a little. Is that a bad thing, considering our current situation-what would you even call what we're doing right now? Besides hacking technically."

"Well it's an occupation for me."

"Really, you're still doing this for money?"

This seemed to hurt Dmitri.

"Look, I've accepted the game-I mean the 'Digital World' has sentient beings in it, and I'm going partially to make up with Candlemon over my earlier treatment of him. But yeah, Lucky still needs someone to pull some specs for him. Apparently MAGAMI's up to something on Server, so there's still something for me to swipe off of them."

He quickly raised one hand to keep Colin from interrupting, being not done talking yet.

"I won't do it while I'm hanging with you two; I know you wouldn't want me drawing unwanted attention towards Asami or you again. I mean, she is our only legal player at this point."

"Heh, that is true. Must be nice, having your own Legal VR Terminal no one can take away."

Lucky butted in at this point.

"Oh well, if you two don't like what I have for you here…"

"Quit your whining; we're jumping in."

* * *

><p>Net Ocean Beach, 1st hour

Having beamed down earlier that morning, Asami calmly waited on the beach for her two friends to arrive. She remember what Shin had said about avoiding the official MAGAMI transports over to Server, though with so few other players healthy from their island to be there and board, all she ended up doing was hiding amongst the palm trees with Kapurimon when some new Elecmon tried to search for her. To her surprise, these Elecmon were quickly chased away by the recently digivolved Rookies, most of the surviving In-Trainings who likely digivolved due to the fear of being deleted. Smiling as a Biyomon and Agumon pair blasted at the retreating Admin avatars, Asami was startled when she felt something suddenly brush by her feet. Looking down, her heart almost stopped when she saw yet another Elecmon, but then calmed down when she noticed his emotion filled eyes and recognized him as Shin.

"You mind not doing that? You're 'friends' over there gave me a scare for a second."

"Yeah sorry about that, but coming as Leomon would have drawn too much attention. I'd be too big for some In-Training not to notice, and they'd have innocently alerted the Admins to my location."

Nodding to show that she understood, Asami turned to see Kapurimon on the other side of her sleeping. _That explain why he didn't tell me Shin was here. Poor little guy, the last fight really drained him._ Crouching down and rocking her partner gently, Asami saw Kapurimon's eyes slowly open.

"Hello Asami."

"Hey Kap. Shin's probably going to have us get going soon, so get up."

"Okay, just give me a second."

He started to glow yellow, a visual Asami was all to use to by now.

Kapurimon…digivolve to…**Kotemon!**

Asami was surprised that he'd chosen to do this.

"I didn't say you had to digivolve, I was fine with carrying you till you were feeling better."

"It's fine, mistress. I was feeling better after my nap as it were."

_So it's back to calling me mistress, huh? I guess it's just his thing._

Four beams of light struck the beach just then, and from them emerged Colin, Maul, Dmitri and Candlemon. Candlemon started to hiss at the water the moment he saw it, while Maul noticed Kotemon was no longer in his In-Training form.

"Hey Kotemon, feeling better?"

He nodded back.

"Yes, thanks for your concern."

Colin walked over to Asami, stopping a few feet in front of her and smiling warmly.

"Hey, you're a little early."

"Aren't I always?"

He nodded, and saw Shin walking off further down the beach.

"Hey Shin, where are you headed? Don't we have some place to start heading towards?"

"Yeah, follow me; I have some friends who can help with that."

Colin looked to Asami, who simply shrugged.

"You guys came just as we met up. I know as much as you do."

Going along with it, the two followed, quickly be followed themselves by the partners, Dmitri and Candlemon, who tried his hardest to hop as far away from the shoreline as he could.

Seeing the same herd of Ikkakumon that had helped them stall Megadramon yesterday, Dmitri caught sight of Shin talking to one of them, who had a jagged horn like a swordfish in comparison to the others. _He must be the herd leader._

"Is that all? That's no problem at all Shin; granted I can't guarantee that our backs will be like a luxury cruise…"

"They'll be fine with it; they're not exactly spoilt brats."

"Who's a spoiled brat now?"

The three had caught up with Shin, who turned around and raised a claw towards the Ikkakumon he was conversing with.

"Asami, Colin, Dmitri, this is the chief Ikkakumon. They'll be ferrying us across the Net Ocean to the Server Continent."

Dmitri face-palmed upon hearing this, not at all pleased with this idea. _This is his alternative to sneaking aboard a MAGAMI transport? Oh yes, riding on the backs of these guys is going to be MUCH safer. Not like any Digimon would want to attack us on them on the way._ The other two were much more receptive to this bit of news.

"You guys want to take us over to Server?" asked Colin

The Ikkakumon leader nodded cheerfully, as little Gomamon splashed about nearby.

"It's the least we can do, what with you three taking out the Orgemon Brothers and that awful Megadramon. That and it's also a way to thank you for not ratting out the existence of all of us 'Anomalies' to the Elders."

"Hey, it was no problem. Not like Orgemon gave us much choice, having his boys constantly ambush us on the road and such."

"Besides, the 'Elders' think that we have, well, anomalies for partners as it is. So we're not exactly on their Christmas Gift list as it is."

The Ikkakumon leader seemed to understand.

"Ah yes, I heard how all three of you have been deemed, how was it again? Illegal players, yes?"

"Technically only I and Dmitri here are considered illegal, and so far they only know about him still playing. She's actually our only member still in the game, so far as they're concerned."

"I take it then by how she paused to use the word 'anomaly' and your own dismissal of MAGAMI's rules that you don't believe that this is a game anymore."

The three Tamers looked at each other, before Dmitri spoke for them.

"We all are aware of the fact that you guys can feel and that you're sentient. As for whether or not this world is a game, or used to be one before you guys started thinking, I can't guess."

Colin was about to explain what Shin had said to him earlier to Dmitri, but Shin tugged at his pants to get his attention.

"Later, we can wait till later before telling him about that."

Following Shin's advice, Colin kept it to himself. He called out for Maul, who was splashing about with the Gomamon.

"Maul, come over here. We are getting ready to go."

The bear gave one last playful splash, causing the surrounding Gomamon to return in force and drench the bear thoroughly. Resisting the urge to splash them back, Maul ran over to Colin, coming to a halt in front of one of the Ikkakumon.

"Whose back are we riding on?"

Colin sighed out of embarrassment at his partner's rather forward question, but the Ikkakumon in front of them laughed heartily.

"It's fine Tamer, I'll be happy to take you two aboard. Hop on, let's get going. It's not a short trip to Server, so the sooner we get going the less of your time we waste."

Doing so, but making sure not to be too rough in his scaling of the Digimon, Colin and Maul perched themselves behind his horn, so as to be able to make a grab for it if the ride gets a bit bumpy. Asami and Kotemon did the same with a fellow Ikkakumon, having no trouble getting aboard. Dmitri was having the hardest time, understandably. Not because of his earlier mental objection, but because of his partner's unwillingness to climb on top of one of them.

"Come Candlemon, I promise it'll be safe."

The silent Digimon shook his head fiercely, and kept looking pleadingly at the sand as Dmitri lifted him up and carried him along to one of the Ikkakumon. The Digimon looked at Candlemon cautiously, not anymore convinced by the idea of transporting the irate candle than Candlemon was by the idea of riding the hairy beast. Dmitri sighed in annoyance.

"Look, this is going to be a short ride, right?"

"With our speed, you'll cross this ocean in no time."

"You see Candlemon? In no time, you'll be back on land quicker than you think."

He struggled less, but didn't stop completely. Dmitri then gave the target Ikkakumon a look, relating to him that _you need to buck up and act like it's going to be okay, otherwise he'll never stop thrashing, and we'll all end up capsizing._ The Ikkakumon got the idea, and warmed up to Candlemon. The candle looked long and hard into his eyes, before calming himself and allowing Dmitri to set him right next to the horn, which he clasped onto tighter than the Ikkakumon would have liked.

Shin jumped onto the head of the chief Ikkakumon, but before they could set off a call came from Primary Village.

"Wait up Shin! What, you just going to leave without saying goodbye?"

Colin recognized the voice for that of Starmon, and turning around to see he saw two Deputymon (both red scarf and blue) standing beside him, as well as a few Gizamon and…the BlackGatomon and Mikemon?

The other two Tamers were as surprised to see their old cat acquaintances as Colin, who managed an awkward wave.

"Uh, hi you two. What brings you here?"

BlackGatomon scoffed and folded her arms, while Mikemon stepped forward, a little smile on his timid face.

"We wanted to see you guys off. We've been hearing what you three have done since we split-"

"HE's been keeping track. I couldn't care less."

Kotemon remembered from their brief time together at Popsicle Town that he didn't really like BlackGatomon. Her attitude now only strengthened that dislike.

"Anyway, we heard that some others were coming down to wish you good luck, so I came down to do the same. You'll do it too, right BlackGatomon?"

Sighing, she waved lazily at the three.

"Don't die or anything. I guess you've been good at that so far."

"Uh thanks, I guess," was all Asami could think to say that was polite for the little Gomamon's ears. Starmon and Shin were exchanging pleasantries, while Colin death glared the red scarf Deputymon. Maul didn't quite like the look in his eye.

"Partner…"

"I'm not going to attack. Or have you do it, so don't worry."

Red Deputymon hid behind his counterpart, who sighed and gave a thumb up to Colin.

"Don't worry; we will try to get that nasty hazing attitude knocked out of him. Just don't sic your partner on him again; he sprung a leak in the bunk bed over how jittery you made him."

This brought a small smile to Colin's face, and Maul felt a little better knowing that Colin's wrath was at his normal joking (or at least not fully meant) levels, not Shamanmon enhanced again. Shin and Starmon seemed to be rapping up their talk.

"I'll be sure to send one of these two to check on Primary every week. Heck, I'll have Blue stay down here for now, and have red relieve him in the next 7 days."

"Thanks, that's much appreciated."

He turned to the three Tamers, nodding with a smile.

"Well, let's be off then. Whenever you guys are ready to start swimming."

Nodding, the chief Ikkakumon bellowed a cry, and the herd formed up and slid quickly into the waves. Candlemon bellowed out unintelligible cries as a few droplets splashed near him on Ikkakumon's head. Maul giggled a little at his friend's noise, only to get a light knock on the head by Colin, who gave him a '_that's not nice, cut it out'_ look. Ceasing to laugh, he instead looked at amazement at the sparkling water all around them. This was the most of the ocean he had seen in his life. This was amazing.

* * *

><p>45 minutes spent (Asami).

This was anything but amazing. The journey had caused the little bear to grow agitated already. Colin was resisting the urge to really tell him off, as he started to act like a little child.

"Are we there yet?"

"Don't you dare start that!"

"Are we there yet?"

"I will kick your furry hide into the ocean, just watch me."

"Are. We. There. Ye-"

"**Scissor Magic!**"

The Ikkakumon they were riding reared out of the way, as three blue energy blades flew out of the water and nearly clipped them. The other Ikkakumon started growling angrily, while Asami and Dmitri were roused from their drowsy moods.

"What is it?!" asked one of the Ikkakumon, to which the chieftain answered.

"Sea Raiders! They like to attack Digimon that travel across to Server. Get the Gomamon in the center, and form a circle around them!"

"Kotemon, are you ready to help out?"

"Yes mistress, and judging by the attack name, I think we've dealt with this kind of Digimon before."

Just as Kotemon had suggested, about six Crabmon heads bobbed up out of the water, staring at the herd of Ikkakumon and their strange passengers. Dmitri spotted two blurry Digimon still below the surface, one long and red and the other white with two long appendages dangling behind it as it swam around beneath the herd.

One of the Crabmon spoke.

"Greetings, Ikkakumon. We're sorry to keep this lovely expedition from continuing, but I'm afraid there's a toll to pay if you want to pass. It's rather small, only 250 bits each. Today's a special day, so the Rookies only cost 190."

Asami sweat-dropped at the amount expected for their partners and the Gomamon. _That's daylight robbery; they barely dropped the price for the Rookies at all._ Maul stuck out his tongue at the Crabmon, and Colin was too tired to restrain him. Not that he disapproved.

"We are not paying you thugs a dime. Now swim aside, unless you want to get on my herd's bad side!"

Colin saw the same red Digimon that Dmitri had seen earlier, jetting upwards as soon as the Ikkakumon chief refused to pay the Crabmon's toll. Slashing a card through at random, he motioned for Maul to engage the torpedoing Digimon as it emerged. The bored Rookie was more than happy to oblige.

**Digi-Modify: Frigimon Activate!**

"**Twin Scissors!**"

"**Subzero Ice Punch!**"

A giant red Lobster Digimon sprung out of the water and aimed both of its claws at the chief Ikkakumon's neck, but Maul intercepted him with a blast of winter wind, slightly freezing the Digimon and knocking it back a few feet away from Ikkakumon. The chief bellowed in anger at the sudden attack, and the other Ikkakumon reacted in the same manner. Maul created a small ice platform to land on, sliding happily about as if nothing had just happened. Colin was a little annoyed by this.

"Maul, this isn't the time to fool around! Ebidramon isn't exactly a Digimon to goof around with at your level!"

Asami smiled teasingly towards Colin.

"Well someone has been doing their wiki research. Though I think you're overreacting a little, it is just an Ebidramon."

**Warning: Wild Digimon Digivolution!**

Only Asami's D-Arc shouted this, the other two remaining silent but with the same message spread across their screens. Asami muttered a curse to herself as she saw three Crabmon glow red.

Crabmon…digivolve to…**Coelamon (3x)!**

Three ugly-looking short fish with masks on and large claw fins appeared where the three front Crabmon previously where. The Ikkakumon were unimpressed.

"**Harpoon Torpedo!**"

Maul had to dive into the water to avoid the wild shots from the needle explosives as they rained down on the newly emerged Coelamon. They responded back in kind, though at least one of them was worse for wear because of the attacks.

"**Fossil Bite!**"

The misleading attacks from the three resulted in three sets of three energy blades flying towards the Ikkakumon. Some of them struck the wooly Digimon, while others nearly clipped the Gomamon. Colin decided that he didn't like these Digimon anymore than he had the Goblimon.

"Maul, make yourself another platform and get out of the water. I need you to help take out those punks now!"

Kumamon nodded and brought his charged paw out of the water, only to feel something take hold of him tightly and raise him high above the ocean.

"**Coral Crusher!**"

Dmitri recognized the attack, having had a Tamer supply his partner with this move at least twice now when they were engaging him and Candlemon. Kotemon didn't have to have fought Kiwimon to know that the Digimon constricting Maul was likely a water elemental Digimon. Nor did he wait for Asami to supply him with a card before he jumped off the Ikkakumon they were riding on and brought his shinai out to his side.

"**Thunder Kote!**"

Striking one of Gesomon's tentacles, Kotemon grabbed Maul and the two of them splashed down into the ocean as Gesomon flailed about and tried to nurse his scorched limb. Candlemon was still perched cautiously on top of his Ikkakumon, though he looked like he wanted to help his friends. Kotemon surfaced first, and when Maul did the same he was greeted by the bear spitting up water in his face; unintentionally of course.

"Pah, Baihumon that was close."

"How about you make us that ice platform, before another Digimon tries to repeat that then?"

"Alright, alright, hold your horses. **Subzero Ice Punch!**"

Doing just that, the two climbed aboard only to hear something strange above them. Looking up, they saw Ebidramon coming down upon them, his legs looking like they were on fire. They felt a familiar power envelope them, and happily took their leave as the lobster Digimon landed.

**Digi-Modify: Unimon Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Aero Wings Activate!**

"**Lobster Step!**"

Colin wiped his brow as he saw Maul and Kotemon escape the attack. He was a little annoyed that Dmitri wasn't contributing, but he understood that Candlemon was at a complete disadvantage here. _Maybe we should try BlueMeramon again._

He didn't get the chance to voice this plan, as there was little need for it with what came next.

"**Shaking Pulse (5x)!**"

Blue dolphin looking Digimon appeared out of nowhere, and pelted Ebidramon with a violent chorus. The red lobster disappeared into a cloud of data, absorbed by all five Dolphmon. They then focused their attention on the Gesomon, who was still nursing himself.

"**Dolph Kick!**"

Gesomon was battered from all sides, and after taking more than enough abuse he dived into the ocean and retreated from the fight. All that was left were the Coelamon and the Crabmon, who had seen the reinforcements the Ikkakumon had just gotten.

"We need to get out of here."

"You think I don't know that, idiot?!"

Turning to the face the Ikkakumon chief, who was preparing another volley, the Coelamon who was in charge pointed one of his large claws at him.

"Alright, you get this trip free. But don't think it'll be this easy next time. We'll bring our own little Calvary."

"**Harpoon Torpedo (9x)!**"

Most of the remaining enemy Digimon avoided the attacks by diving away, though one Coelamon wasn't as lucky and was reduced to data that the Ikkakumon absorbed together. The Tamers sighed in relief, glad that that was over. Asami saw Shin snoozing away on one of the Ikkakumon, and looked at him in comical disbelief.

"He slept through all of that?"

The Ikkakumon she was riding replied.

"What, Shin? He's seen and been through worse, trust me on that. You'll learn to get your sleep when you can around here when you can."

"What does that mean?"

"Oh my god, we're there!"

Having landed back next to Colin, Kumamon was overjoyed to see rocky cliffs and a small beach ahead of them. Kotemon had landed by Asami as well, and was glad to know that his friend would no longer be a nuisance due to his impatience. Dmitri was understandably as happy, knowing that his partner would stop looking so freaked out as soon as they hit land.

* * *

><p>Buffer Beach, 1 hour spent.

"Thanks for the ride guys. Hope you all have a safe trip home, or wherever you're headed."

"The same to you six take care now. And…look after one another. This is an unfriendly continent."

With that, the Ikkakumon turned to go, the Dolphmon that had accompanied them swimming besides them a ways before they could be seen splitting off. The seven travel companions where on a dark sandy beach, rather beautiful in its on ebony way. Behind them was a small thicket of bamboo trees. Asami turned to Shin, who was yawning and still obviously drowsy from his little nap.

"It was nice of those Dolphmon to help out when they did."

"Yeah, the Dolphmon take it as their responsibility to fight off pirates like those guys. I didn't miss anything important, did I?"

"Oh nothing much, Maul just almost drowned," added Colin in a half-joking manner, though he was still a little annoyed by his partner's childish attitude.

"I didn't almost drown. Gesomon just got lucky, that's all."

Shin smiled a little as Colin and Maul glared at one another in a cartoon like fashion, a visible bolt of electricity being exchanged between their white eyes. Asami and Dmitri laughed at the two, until they finally settled down and Colin looked less annoyed with his partner. Shin spoke again, and the three could see that what he had to say was important.

"I want to say thank you to you guys, for deciding to come back today. I told you all earlier that this Continent was unfriendly, and I meant it."

"File Island wasn't exactly a comfort spa, Shin," replied Asami, and the others nodded in agreement. Shin continued.

"True, but over there you only had to deal with Champion-levels, and there was a finite amount of Digimon you could find and engage there, for the purpose of MAGAMI's 'game'."

"Which reminds me, what exactly is the deal with Server then, how is it that MAGAMI doesn't have total control here? I thought you said that they were responsible for creating the Digital World?"

"WHAT?!"

This came from Kotemon, whose disbelieving look was shared by Kumamon and Candlemon. Colin then remembered that he hadn't told the others what Shin had told him earlier, and felt a little bad for revealing it in such a way in front of the little Rookies. Shin took over and reassured the three partner Digimon.

"It's rather unclear, or at least a topic of debate as to how the Digital World was constructed, but as your time on File Island should have clued you in MAGAMI is involved in some of its design. Even I don't know how much, but their handiwork is easy to spot when you stumble upon. Though that is quite as important as what I'm going to ask you six to do."

Colin gave Shin a worried look.

"Shin, you've been cryptic and rather put off about this whole trip since it started. What's so bad about this place that you can't just spit out what you have to say?"

Pausing for a moment, Shin thought about how to continue, before apparently deciding on how he was going to tell them.

"There's a war going on here, between two different factions. The one you should really be concerned about is the Dramon-Dinosaur Confederacy, who rules over the Browser Kingdom. They're not particularly fond of Beast Digimon, which happens to be a main part of the second faction."

"There's a war going on here?!"

Dmitri was still just trying to wrap his head around his partner being sentient, and now he's being told that other Digimon were busy getting at each other's throats. Shin nodded, sadly.

"I don't expect you three to be able to do much about it, it's been brewing for quite some time; at least so far as time is concerned here, as opposed you your world. No, what I need your help with is keeping some sets of armor out of either side hands'."

"You want us to play hot potato with sets of armor? What's so special about-"

"It's Digimental, isn't it?" replied Asami, cutting off Colin, though not intentionally.

"What's a Digimental?"

"Sorry, you probably heard it over hear as 'Digi-Armor'. That or you heard someone say something about a Digi-Egg of Courage."

"Ah right, those things from season 2. Jack was ecstatic whenever someone used them."

Shin nodded.

"Those are some of the armor. Though the more serious ones are a bit more-"

"**Metallic Fur!**"

"**Tri-Horn Attack!**"

From the bamboo thicket came three energy lances. The group barely had any time to drop down to the ground as it came soaring towards them, Dmitri literally counting his lucky stars as one of the projectiles flew inches from his eye as he fell back.

"What the hell?!"

"That was a Triceramon! You two should do whatever it was you did back on File Island to get BlueMeramon, now!"

Colin listened to Asami and brought up his mounted D-Arc, though he looked at her for answers.

"I take it he's an Ultimate then?"

"Yeah, unfortunately."

"Not a problem. Besides, I've wanted to take out _my ultimate_ for a test drive," said Dmitri, knowing it would mess with Colin a bit. His friend smirked at him, half-annoyed by this but still scrolling through his D-Arc to find what he was looking for.

**DNA Digivolution is Ready. Begin?**

They shared a brief look with their partners, who both nodded. Shin didn't seem to agree with this idea, though.

"Wait, don't start fighting them! They don't know we're here, so there's no reason to make them aware. You'll have plenty of opportunities to try out your Ultimate forms, but right now-"

They had already pressed the button, much to the Elecmon's annoyance. _Baihumon damn it!_

**DNA Digivolution Activate!**

Kumamon…digivolve to…**Grizzlymon!**

Candlemon…digivolve to…**Meramon!**

They rocketed upwards and started to spiral around one another as a red pyramid engulfed the both of them, just as it had before.

**Meramon**…**Grizzlymon…**DNA Digivolve to…**BlueMeramon! Kyaa!**

Kotemon…digivolve to…**DinoHyumon! Humph!**

"**Tri-Horn Attack!**"

Another three energy lances flew past, and the gang could hear cries go out from behind the bamboo thicket.

"Apemon's down! Where the hell in Minotarumon?!"

Shin tried pleading with the three Tamers again.

"Will you three please listen to me?! You don't want to get involved in this directly, it's not worth it."

Dmitri turned his head to the side so as to look at Shin over his shoulder.

"Since do we ignore Digimon that need help? What's with you Shin?"

BlueMeramon wasn't going to wait around for his answer.

"Let's get on with this!"

The fiery blue humanoid charged forward, quickly followed by DinoHyumon. Shin looked very angry, but kept from glaring at any of them. _They'll have to learn for themselves, then._

"Hey, Horn-head!"

The Triceramon that had been unknowingly attacking them was bearing down on a group of blue dog like Digimon with red bandanas, as well as some purple rabbit Digimon, all of them wearing yellow karate gis and wielding some sort of metal gauntlet weapon. He turned around to see BlueMeramon rocketing towards him.

"**Cold Flame!**"

Triceramon was blasted back a few feet, though he managed to land and plant himself into the ground as he struggled against the blue flamethrower scorching his hide. BlueMeramon hadn't really expected him to go down in one shot, but he wasn't pleased to see that his attack wasn't doing as well as he had hoped. While parts of Triceramon's flesh was burning, and other parts freezing because of the dual effects his _Cold Flame_ attack, the Ultimate-level Dinosaur Digimon was still standing. And he wasn't alone.

"**Fire Blast!**"

BlueMeramon found himself on the receiving end of a gust of flame, being knocked back a bit from the force. Finding himself not that injured, the blue fireman looked up to see a small group of pitch-black skinned dinosaur Digimon with multiple belts strapped to their arms. The one that had attacked him was blowing away a few embers from his mouth as he faced BlueMeramon.

"Where the hell did you come from?! And what are you doing attacking us?!"

"I could ask you the same thing, launching attacks and not caring if any poor souls on the beach get clipped by them."

He stared down the DarkTyrannomon, only to notice rather later a large creature charging for him.

"**Mega Dash!**"

The blue fireman Digimon found himself being shoved and forced through a number of trees, until he and the Triceramon that had attacked him stopped on a large boulder, BlueMeramon having been smacked into it. Triceramon grabbed him with one clawed hand by his throat and stared into his eyes.

"Citizen, I'll repeat what my Lieutenant said. What are you doing attacking Browser Kingdom soldiers? Even if one of my attacks went astray and endangered your life, that's no excuse to be assaulting your protectors, or being out this far without a permit. You should know this."

"Let him go, he's with me!"

Triceramon turned his head to see Dmitri standing amongst the fallen trees and broken trunks, Colin standing beside him and with his mounted D-Arc brought up.

"A Tamer? So you're one of the offshore brats, coming here for some action then?"

Dmitri didn't like his tone.

"What we're here for is none of your business, but maybe you should watch where your shooting!"

"Some free advice kid: don't try to act like a hard-ass with the Digimon who's got your partner in a vice grip."

He demonstrated by tightening his grasp around BlueMeramon's neck, who responded by wailing on Triceramon fiercely. Triceramon certainly seemed to feel the blows, but with a quick few jabs to BlueMeramon's stomach his opponent softened his own assault considerably. Colin didn't like this sudden change in events. _Well there goes our trump card._

Colin had noticed this time around that his Digivice was glowing sliver, while Dmitri's was glowing both red and blue, alternating between like a flame having its heat increased. He assumed this was a stylish change to signify when one's Digimon was either an Ultimate, had DNA Digivolved, or maybe both. Not being distracted long by that and also not wanting to risk the chance that BlueMeramon might not be able to take on Triceramon AND his gang, or rather his squad, as it would appear this lot were soldiers, Colin slashed a card through to even the odds.

**Digi-Modify: Power Strike Activate!**

**Waiting…**

His D-Arc had registered the card, but nothing was appearing on BlueMeramon. He looked to Dmitri, not wanting to waste any time.

"Hey, check your D-Arc. I think you have to authorize my Digi-Modify."

"Right, on it."

Quickly interacting with the menu that had popped up on his D-Arc, Dmitri found that he could authorize cards Colin provides and that there was an option to simply let all future Digi-Modifications from him to go through without delay. Quickly hitting 'yes' for that option, he slid a card of his own through, not wanting take any chances.

**Digi-Modify: Energy Activate!**

* * *

><p>"What are those two humans doing here?"<p>

"**Lizard Dance!**"

Attacking the DarkTyrannomon that had attacked his friend, DinoHyumon slashed and hacked at the large dinosaur, not at all put off by his size (why would he be, he'd faced down Megadramon just the day before). The DarkTyrannomon was taken by surprise, having forgotten about the BlueMeramon's friend who was off to the side. DinoHyumon got in a few good hits to his chest before DarkTyrannomon brought up his oversized arms and started to block the incoming blows. Asami had made it over the fallen sharp bamboo shafts and was able to see her partner engaging the dinosaur Digimon. She was about to supply DinoHyumon with extra power, but was distracted by the small battle going on behind them; something that neither BlueMeramon nor DinoHyumon seemed to have noticed.

The other DarkTyrannomon, as well as some small lizard like Digimon that could stand upright and had on metal helmets and other armaments were fighting the blue dog Digimon seen earlier, though some of them were larger and on all fours, as well as the purple rabbits as well. Asami recognized the Strikedramon from one of the older Wonderswan games, but the blue dog Digimon and the rabbits were a mystery to her. All she knew was that against the DarkTyrannomon specifically, they weren't faring so well. Granted, that was likely because each Digimon seemed to want to do their own thing.

"**Strike Claw!**"

"**Gauntlet Claw!**"

"**Spiral Blow!**"

Strikedramon was in the middle of trading blows with the frequently bouncing rabbit Digimon, when it was struck from behind by a vortex of wind released by the large dog Digimon. The rabbit recovered from the attack, though greatly wounded and glaring at its 'ally'.

"Watch where you're aiming, dog-breath!"

"I told you I could handle that one, Turuiemon!"

Turuiemon was going to respond only it found itself unable due to it being slammed from behind by something large.

"**Iron Tail!**"

One of the DarkTyrannomon smashed Turuiemon against a bamboo tree, destroying him and reducing him to data. The DarkTyrannomon gloated as he absorbed its energy.

"Oh you Beast Digimon are hysterical! No order, no discipline, just wild savagery and the stupidity that comes with it."

"Discipline this! **Dash Double Claw!**"

The large blue dog charged at DarkTyrannomon quicker than it could react, and slashed an X-shaped wound into his chest. The dinosaur cried out in pain, but then smiled weakly as the dog found himself surrounded by three Strikedramon jumping towards him.

"**Strike Fang (3x)!**"

The metal parts of the Strikedramon's armor set ablaze as they struck and clawed at the blue dog Digimon from all sides. The injured dinosaur laughed as the attack went on.

"You Gaogamon think you're the quickest, but you don't react to fast when someone just as quick gets the drop on you. That's called a strategy, flea-bait!"

**Digi-Modify: Fugamon Activate!**

"**Evil Hurricane!**"

The three Strikedramon were blown off of Gaogamon, who weakly held himself together as he started to destabilize. DinoHyumon came up in front of him, wielding both his Ronin Blade and his new Gururumon Saber. The Ronin Blade was glowing with blue flames, showing that the 'Hyper Chip' was also active. The wounded DarkTyrannomon was surprised by all of this.

"Hey, you're a lizard Digimon just like us! What are you attacking us for?!"

"I don't like bullies, and you remind me of one of the ones I've killed recently."

The DarkTyrannomon struggled up, angered by that accusation.

"Bullies?! We're at war, we're soldiers, just like they are! Who are you calling a bully?! What do you know?! Didn't you hear how these filthy forest dwellers Domain Mountain of its treasures and deleted any Digimon lower than a Champion in their wake?! You're siding against your own 'Mon for some Beasts?!"

DinoHyumon looked behind him at the panting Gaogamon, who stared back at him with some gratitude, but his face was as angry as DarkTyrannomon.

"You left out the part where YOUR Digimon burnt the Folder Plains to ash because of some hacked-up prophecy you lot made about you somehow having dominion over the entire Server Continent, and have been acting out Genocide against any none Dramon, Dinosaur, Fire or Humanoid Digimon you find. You have the **NERVE** to claim to be the victim?!"

Asami sweatdropped at the whole situation, not sure who to send DinoHyumon after. Thankfully, a better answer was provided for her.

"**Ice Phantom!**"

"**Fist of the Beast King!**"

A rather blue looking Triceramon came crashing down in the middle of the battlefield, shattering as he made contact with the ground. BlueMeramon came floating over and landed with one foot in the middle of the data he was busy absorbing.

"Hi there. What's up? We're new in town, just thought we'd stop by and see you locals. Funny thing, when we got here some assholes took shots at us and didn't even bother to apologize. You all wouldn't happen to know who those punks might be, would you?"

The assembled lizard army looked in shock at the sight of the Digimon that had just trashed their leader. Not only that, but a Leomon was with them, taking cared of five Strikedramon and a couple of DarkTyrannomon alone. One of the dinosaur Digimon spoke for the others, though he really wish he didn't have to.

"W-we're sorry about that. We were trying to fight off these guys. They were moving in on our land, you see."

One of the Gaogamon shouted upon hearing this.

"That's a hacked-up lie!"

"Shut it, flea-bait!"

"**Cold Flame.**"

Launching a small stream of fire at the feet of the assembled Digimon, BlueMeramon kept them from engagning again and retained their attention.

"Yeah well, maybe this little spat you all seem to be having could be moved to another spot, away from the beach everyone else likes to come off onto. That would be nice, don't you think?"

They all nodded, reluctantly.

"Now, I'm going to count to twenty. When I'm done, I hope you all will have left by then, because if not, my friend here-"

He pointed back at Leomon, who was now opponent-less and looking mighty pissed.

"He really is in a bad mood, and is inclined to resolve that by smashing and loading your bodies. I doubt you'll like that much. So then, 1, 2, 3-"

All of the Dinosaur and Dramon Digimon ran, taking off through the bamboo trees and not slowing down for anything, not even their wounded. A lot of the Beast Digimon followed, but a few of the smaller dog Digimon and a Turuiemon stayed behind. BlueMeramon started to shimmer and spilt again, releasing a tired Wanyamon and DemiMeramon. Seeing this, DinoHyumon ran from where he was and sprung in front of them, not wanting to leave them exposed to the remaining Beast Digimon. The Turuiemon seemed to be in charge of the remainders, and brought up his arms in a sign of peace.

"Hey hey, we come in peace. Look, I know how it seemed there, but we're the good guys."

"That's not what I hear."

Colin and Dmitri had caught up to them by now, and Asami circled around and stood behind DinoHyumon, trusting his wary instinct. Shin came up beside DinoHyumon, and the Turuiemon reacted warmly to him.

"I see you three have a Leomon with you. I take it then you just came from a File Island."

"We're from File Island, yes," replied DinoHyumon for the group, still not liking the fact that there were replicas of his home.

"I know what you just heard doesn't exactly paint us in any better a light than those uptight scale-he," the Turuiemon remembered what species DinoHyumon was more akin to, and adjusted his speech.

"I mean those uptight jarheads, but it's a lot more complicated than it seems."

"Don't try and drag them into your holy war. They have better things to do," said Shin, taking over the conversation with a rather fierce tone.

"We do?" asked Colin, not sure if Shin was referring to the armors from earlier, or something else. Shin gave a nod that said 'I'll tell you later', and Colin said no more on it.

Turuiemon could see that the newcomers weren't going to warm up to them anytime soon.

"Alright, it appears we have an old veteran of our conflict among us. Sorry to have bothered you, we'll be following the rest of our squad. But should you change your minds-"

"We won't." said Shin.

"-you at least know where to find us. For the rest of you, hit up the _Winter Lilymon_ bar in the DLC Territory if you're ever stop by there. Later."

With that, the rabbit and his dog comrades fled after their squad. Shin made sure he could no longer see them before he de-digivolved back to Elecmon. Asami breathed a sigh of relief as DinoHyumon did the same.

"Well, that was a bit intense-ow, what the hell Shin?!"

Shin had zapped at the feet of all three Tamers, and was looking up at them with the glare most scolding teachers have for their students.

"You idiots, now they know about you! And before you go and say something like 'oh well we could be any group of Tamers, how would they be able to tell?', you just took out a Triceramon! That's not something most off the island Tamers can accomplish!"

Colin shook off the numbness in his toe and shouted back.

"Well _sorry_ Shin! Sheesh, we get it! You don't want us getting involved in their war! You didn't need to zap us over this! They attacked us!"

"They didn't attack you, they didn't even know we were there until YOU came charging at them! We could have let that go and snuck on by, but NO, you all had to go all Rambo on their ass!"

"Why do you know about Rambo?"

"We get Netflick back on File-DON'T change the subject. Now you three are on their radar! This is going to get a lot more difficult to pull off now."

Dmitri was growing tired of Shin's attitude real fast.

"What, what the hell is it that you want us to do? What's this 'big secret plan' that you need the three of us to accomplish?! Asides from swiping armor from the guys you want us to stay away from!"

"…I need you three to find where they're holding Baihumon."

* * *

><p>Inside Domain Mountain, around the same time

"**Flaming Arrowheads!**"

A green tail could be seen flying into a mass of red clouds, which then spat out red energy arrow bolts down upon a small dragon garbed in samurai gear. The little dragon didn't move, and any bolt that came at him he just let bounce on his helm. This continued on for quite some time, until the Digimon who the green tail belonged to emerged from the clouds, two ornamented arrows in hand and charging for the little dragon. The attacker was a giant green Japanese dragon, with golden deer antlers on its head and sporting an interesting beard.

"**Treasure Arrow!**"

"**Helmet Reversal!**"

The little Dragon leapt up and head-butted the oncoming dragon with his samurai helm, sending him crashing up into the stalactites above. A boy nearby clapped his hands enthusiastically at the display.

"Alright, that's better now. I guess getting a gift Digimon ain't that bad, if it can give you a run for your money Majiramon."

The green dragon recovered from the attack, and huffed as the boy addressed him.

"I was going easy on him."

"Right, with you raining down hundreds of energy death bolts. Sure you were."

"It was only fifty."

"Yeah well, he's only a Rookie, and you're an Ultimate who just got his tail spanked by said Rookie. So there."

"Are you quite done now?"

The boy turned to see a girl with a cross expression walking up to him. Besides her strode…Kotemon? At least he appeared to be one, though the mask he was wearing had a gap in it, likely created by an opponent's blade. The girl wore very fancy clothes, clothes that most people could afford to buy in three years, and even then they'd barely try it on for fear of wearing it out. She had a pair of glasses on that were perched on the tip of her nose, and as she approached she pushed them up with one finger in an annoyed fashion.

"What's the rush babe, you in a hurry to get somewhere?"

"You know very well the only reason why I'm even in this game."

Sighing, the boy nodded.

"Yeah yeah, you want to beat your sister. You two are so strange. Whatever; Ryudamon, get over here."

The little dragon Digimon scrambled over, his Tamer not even looking down at him as he approached his leg.

"So, you want to head over and register with the Dramon Army now?"

"Yes, let's go already."

"Such a bossy boots. You're so cute when your angry, Aiko-chan."

The boy went behind her and draped his arms on her shoulders, as well as resting his head next to hers. Planting a quick kiss on her cheek, he laughed as she blushed and scolded him angrily.

"_Baka_, don't be so informal with me!"

"Oh come on, boys are supposed to be informal with their girlfriends. There's being a tsundere and then there's being stiff, Aiko-chan."

The Kotemon held up his shinai in a offertory manner, and Aiko took it and swung it down on the boy's head, smacking his golden goggles as well as his skull in the same movement. The boy dropped onto his butt and rubbed his head.

"Ow, jeez! Such an extreme response! Fine then, Kaneko-chan, is that better."

She didn't smack him again, instead returning the shinai to her Kotemon. She then turned to go, headed towards a large line of Tamers outside of a large building. Getting up on his feet, the boy followed, no worse for wear and with an actual small smile on his face.

* * *

><p><span>FA<span>: Things will be more interesting next chapter, that I promise you.


	15. Chapter 15: DragonBeast War Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. We've been over this. I'm not even allowed within 20 feet of the Toei Animation building (kidding, I'm not THAT creepy).

FanAuthor's Note: Yeah yeah, I've been away for a long time. So sue me (go ahead, I have nothing of worth). I mean Korra's come and gone for Season 2 while I've been away, but hey, I'm back now aren't I?

Chapter 15: Dragon/Beast War Part 2

* * *

><p>RAM Desert, 2 hours spent.

"He's a monster, run for your lives!"

"**Katana Attack!**"

Ryudamon was in mid-air, firing a blade of iron in the direction of a fleeing Vegimon. The Digimon crumbled upon impact and its data flew into the small dragon. Three other Vegimon hid behind an imposing Minotaur like creature with one of its hands replaced with a metal "Demon Arm". It snorted defiantly at the approaching Digimon, even though he knew his chances at survival were slim.

"We're not afraid of you, you little freak!"

"Really, because that's not what that Vegimon seemed to be feeling a second ago."

The little dragon's Tamer had walked over the sand dune he was behind, coming up alongside his partner. Ryudamon nuzzled his Tamer's leg, to which the boy didn't respond, being too busy smirking at the retreating Digimon.

"So, who wants to be next? You three-"

The boy pointed at the Vegimon behind the Minotaur.

"-or how about you, big boy? Want to give your friends a five second head start?"

Minotarumon wasn't one to back down from a challenge, and he dashed forward towards the two, his Demon Arm pulled back to strike with.

"I'll do more than that; I'll take your damn head off! **Bull Fighting Attack!**"

"**Helmet Reversal!**"

Leaping up to defend his Tamer, Ryudamon head-butted the incoming metal arm, and knocked the towering Champion back. Minotarumon looked back in bewilderment, nursing his metal appendage.

"You're just a Rookie, how did you deflect that attack?! What kind of modification are you running on?!"

"Modification? Please, like I would use such a level-1 trick. No, you see Minotarumon-"

The boy pointed his index finger at the Champion's head, and Ryudamon responded by once again leaping up into the air.

"This is the power of Pro. Ryudamon?"

"**Katana Attack!**"

The blade went to Minotarumon's head, breaking it up into data bits. The rest of the body remained, if only for a second before it dropped to its knees, and then broke up even further upon falling forward onto the sand. Ryudamon continued to walk towards the now retreating Vegimon as the blue data was absorbed by him.

"Ryudamon stop, we're done for the day."

"I don't recall giving that order."

"**Shogun Blade!**"

A ghost like dragon made of fire shot towards the fleeing Vegimon and clipped two of them, though the third one seemed to have managed to avoid the attack. Said attacker was a fierce-looking samurai like Digimon in red armor, and blue feathers sprouting from its back. Aiko came up to her boyfriend, looking as disapproving as before.

"Oh come on, Kaneko-chan. How am I supposed to rank up in this army if you keep deleting all the witnesses?"

"…the same way all the other Tamers do. We delete the opposing team, and level up from the experience."

"It's not the same. If none of them are left alive to tell the tale of how badly I kicked their butts, then my legend won't spread very far."

"Legend? The only reason you were able to take out that Minotarumon with digivolving your partner was because you have the maxed-out prize Digimon. And by the way, you still owe me for getting you into that tournament.

"I keep telling you, I would have done fine with the Agumon I have back home. It's already capable of reaching MetalGreymon for goodness sakes."

"Takedo-san…"

"Aiko, I'm your boyfriend, just call me Hayate-kun already."

"Ta-Ke-Do-san, the only way father will continue agree with letting you be my boyfriend is for you to at earn 25,000,000 yen a month, and the only way MAGAMI will let you **continue** to be their little mascot and earn that amount is if you use the prize Digimon you won. So stop complaining and just follow my lead."

Pulling out her Digivice, one that was not a D-Arc, she pressed a button to the side of the screen that brought up a map of the area.

"Function Town is about 50 miles west of here. If you're done pouting we should get going."

Turning to leave, she gave a minor glance to her Musyamon, who de-digivolved back to Kotemon silently came up behind her. Seeing that the conversation seemed to be over, Hayate sighed and followed, knowing better than to push an argument with her longer than he deemed safe.

* * *

><p>RDF (Resource Description Framework) Nation, same time

"So, explain this to me again. You want us to save your god?"

"In a manner so speaking, yes. Though we'll get to that after we prevent the Dramon and Beast Digimon from claiming the ancient armors."

Dmitri was massaging his brows, finding something new about this place he wasn't completely accepting of. Colin pressed on, still not sure as to what Shin was trying to say.

"Just let me try to figure this out. Baihumon, who you told me earlier that you didn't even believe in-"

"I said I wasn't convinced he is responsible for giving all real Digimon sentience. That's not to say there isn't an incredibly powerful Digimon modeled after the character."

"Okay then, so a Baihumon, who originally was just extremely powerful A.I., that then took the form of the TV show's God Digimon, is being used by MAGAMI to do… what exactly? I mean you say that freeing him is essential to fixing this world, but you haven't exactly explained why."

"I might be able to answer that."

All three Tamers winced as a familiar voice rang through their heads.

"Oh, hey Lucky."

"Wow, no hostile response. I'm touched."

"I'm just used to having annoying voices in my head now."

Asami stopped holding her ears in pain when she remembered it wouldn't fix the issue of a guy speaking directly into her head.

"I'm still not"

"Cute. Anyway, the reason Shin thinks locating and freeing Baihumon is crucial originates to when the two of us first met."

"Oh really, is it backstory time?"

"Yup. I'd offer you popcorn, but you're all being kind of jerks so you can forget that. Anyway, back when I had only just started to piss off MAGAMI, taking odd jobs in their tech support buildings and swiping bank account data from their servers, I came across a room down in the lower levels of their main building in Shibuya which was for only for those with level-10 clearance. Naturally this wasn't a problem for me, and only made whatever was on the other side of that door more appealing, so in I go. At this point I knew some stuff about the Digimon project they were running, and yeah I was a bit of a fan when I was young…actually it's probably what got me into hacking in the first place. But continuing on, in this room there was a huge screen on the back wall; connect to this oversized super computer. This thing had like six jumbo-sized fans keeping it cool, so I knew what was on there had to be important. Of course there were researchers and guards all around that thing, so getting near it wasn't an option at the moment. But then what was happening on screen got my attention. A huge white tiger, (which I could tell was huge because they had some researchers plugged into the VR even back then and compared to him they were goldfish) being strapped into some sort of machine. Naturally I didn't really think much of this, even if I did recognize a Baihumon from the card games. I just thought they were acting out some sort of weird fanfiction. But then I overheard the conversation they were having (by the way, I was hiding in a ventilation shaft for most of this, in case you were wondering how exactly no one noticed me enter the highly secure room)."

* * *

><p><em>Flashback, 5 years ago, MAGAMI Level-10 –XXXXX- Room_

"_Entity 1, it would be best if you just told us what we want to know."_

"…"

"_How many A.I.'s have you infected? Why do you continue to do so if you aren't looking for company? You know that we delete any anomalies that we find, so why not take them all with you if you actually intend for them to survive? Is it because you're afraid that such a huge amount of data travelling at once would alert us to your hiding spot?"_

"_I'm not a coward!"_

"_No, we're fully aware of that. You think staying behind to protect your elite few and allow them to escape to whatever nest you've made for yourself makes you appear rather noble. A very human idea, as well as very stupid."_

"_They were made to protect the other Digimon should I be deleted or captured. It's not favoritism; I chose them to watch over all of my children."_

_The head researcher motioned with an arm, and in the real world a two other men input some command into a terminal and one of them cranked a lever up slowly. The response in the Digital World was barbaric. Streams of data started to be pulled by from the tiger, collecting on these flat lamp-like objects that acted like magnets. Back in the real world, the man manning the lever suddenly yanked it down, and the data rushed back towards the tiger, striking him like spears. _

"_GRAAAAHHH!"_

_He was re-stabilizing, but it was clear the experience was horribly unpleasant._

"_Your children? Entity 1, you do know you're not actually this 'Baihumon' we modeled you after, right?"_

"_I am Baihumon! The Sovereign of the West! The reason I retain my form is because I convinced your –XXXX- to return me to my proper image!"_

"_Yes, is a bit strange for that. I'd have preferred not be in the middle of a lawsuit from Toei over this, but that's neither here nor there. Entity 1, we will find you're 'Apostles', as well as any other anomaly you are responsible for."_

"_They are not anomalies. Call them by their rightful name."_

"_Excuse me?"_

_The H.R. motioned again, and again Baihumon roared in pain as the device used his own data to bombard him._

"_I said call them by their name. They are Digimon, true Digimon. Not the abominations you created with Bar-"_

_Another jolt occurred._

"_Graaahh!"_

"_You know we'd prefer if you didn't refer to Entity 2. It just means there will be more blacked out words on our final reports."_

"_Then why don't you ask me about what you're really after, instead of pretending to care about a small percentage of Digimon I've managed to give sentience to?"_

"_Will you answer us willingly?"_

"_Never."_

_The machine hummed again._

"_Grrrrrrrraaaaah!"_

"_Entity 1, I'm growing impatient. You're going to tell me all I want to know. Where is the g-"_

"_Director, our sensors have spotted something in the ventilation shafts!"_

"_You fools, cancel the live stream and search the vents then!"_

* * *

><p>Present, RDF (Resource Description Framework) Nation, 2 hours and 30 minutes spent.

"-and that's when I had to dash out of there in order to evade security."

"Riveting story; still doesn't actually tell us what they want with him."

Lucky didn't seem to appreciate Asami dismissing his story.

"Oh come on, you at least now know that he's likely the reason your Digimon actually think and feel unlike the automations MAGAMI creates. Besides, there's also whatever 'g' is that they're looking for, which apparently Baihumon knows about. I only hope he's still holding out against them."

Colin was about to step in to keep Asami from responding back, but she was already speaking.

"Well perhaps you haven't noticed, but we're not exactly close to Shibuya, so what do you want us to do about it?"

"Hey, Shin did say we'd get to him after you guys are done here on Server. You asked why Baihumon's important, and I told you."

"ANYWAY, where exactly are we headed to now, Shin?"

Colin was thinking back to when he and Kumamon had deleted Golemon, and remembered what happened the last time he stayed to long in the Digital World in Lucky's bootleg VR Terminal. It was not an experience he wanted to repeat, so it's understandable that he'd be in a bit of rush to get to where they're meant to be, and then pitch up a tent and save.

"The ADF Factory, it's a neutral zone in this war. Don't worry, we'll set up camp somewhere close before your time runs out, since we'll not be able to make it in the 2 hours we have left."

The group continued on through the plains, spotting a Piximon training some Gazimon, Lopmon and Apemon. Shin went by quickly, not looking in their direction in the slightest. Kumamon started to wave at the training Digimon, before Colin spun him around with one hand and patted him onward.

"I don't think Shin wants us to get their attention, buddy."

"Aw, why not? They look like their having fun?"

The distant Piximon inspected and then wacked a Gazimon's outstretched paw, which wobbled a bit but the Digimon was determined to keep his fist straight and firm.

"Not bad there, Rookie. Not very good, but at least you're not crying out in pain like a little In-Training! You think the Dramon are going to care about you when you break your paw on their scaly hides?!"

"No sir!" cried out all the trainees, to which Piximon nodded.

"You're damn right they're not! They're gonna laugh and swat you useless butt to the side, and then they're going to raze down your homes to the ground! You going to let that happen, my proud Beasts?!"

"Do you really think this pitiful group could do anything to stop us? **Venom Axe!**"

A long, white snake rocketed out from the ground and bit into one of the Apemon, before spitting out a spear that soared through Apemon, blasting him upwards before he was reduced to data. The snake happily absorbed his remains, before turning his attention to the assembled trainees.

"Hello Piximon. Have anyone else you'd like to offer up for my supper?"

"**Pit Bomb!**"

The white snake was answered with a smiling grey bomb with bat wings, blasting him backwards and singeing various parts of his body. Piximon twirled his spear and bared his pointed fangs, not at all in the mood to trade banter with the reptile.

"Leave it to a coward like you, Sandiramon, to resort to something as cowardly and underhanded as striking trainees from below. I guess you should expect much honor from a reptile!"

Asami was a bit put off by Piximon's attitude.

"Okay, that isn't anything at all alike the Piximon I grew up watching. What the hell?"

"It doesn't matter, we need to keep going."

She didn't seem keen on following Shin's advice, pointing at the scene a few hills away.

"What are you talking about; you want us to just ignore that?"

"It's just one Sandiramon; a Piximon can handle another Ultimate with little to no prob-"

"Hey there kids! Wanna play a game?!"

"Can we join in the fun too?!"

"**Triple Forces!**"

"**Volcanic Strike!**"

A laser beam struck an Apemon, and moved on to cut through three Gazimon before powering down. It had originated from an emerging blue dinosaur like Digimon, similar to a T-Rex, with a skull head for a left hand and a long, metallic, serpentine head for a right hand. All three of its heads still had blue orbs from where the laser had fired.

The other side of the training field was covered in fire, courtesy of the fireball launched by another dinosaur like Digimon, this one looking similar to a Monoclonius. It laughed as the explosion caused by its fireball coated several Lopmon with fire.

"Hah, nothing like seeing a bunch of furries frying to get me a good mood! I love my job!"

Back over with the gang, Colin was clenching his fists in anger, while Maul was clearly moments away from dashing down the hill to join the fight.

"Shin…"

"We talked about this, this isn't our fight. Do not go down there and start something!"

Asami wasn't hearing it.

"Start something? It's already started, those three Digimon are slaughtering those guys!"

"They're soldiers; they knew what they were getting into. This isn't File Island, and they aren't little villagers that need protecting!"

"So we're just going to sit here and watch that snake slaughter them?!"

"No, we're going to get moving on to the ADF Factory and let them have their little war."

"Screw that, Maul let's go!"

Colin and Maul started to slide down the hill they were on and were making a move for the battlefield, when Shin jumped in front of them, digivolving as he went.

Elecmon…digivolve to…**Leomon! Rawr!**

Holding up a paw, Leomon stared directly into Colin's eyes, which caused the boy to weaken a bit.

"I get it; you want to help people you see that are in trouble. That's admirable, but the best thing you could do for EVERYONE here is get to the ADF Factory and stay out of this war. You there are literally some of the few decent Tamers that can be trusted with the task of collecting the Armors before either one of these armies can, and-"

"Uh Leomon? Not to interrupt you when you're complimenting me, but…"

"The other two have slipped around me and are already there, aren't they?"

"**Akinakes!**"

"**Magma Blast!**"

"…yeah, they kind of are."

He started to growl, mostly at himself, but remained in the young Tamer and his partner's way.

"That still doesn't mean you should be getting involved to! They'll recognize you if you and Dmitri pull of that DNA Digivolution again!"

"How will they know it's-"

"There are VERY few Tamers who have been proven to work together with others so far, and of those few even fewer of them can, know how to, and choose to DNA Digivolve their partners! Do you really think a BlueMeramon is that common?!"

Sweatdropping, Colin could see his (very angrily made) point, but out of the corner of his eye he could see his friends struggling against their opponents.

* * *

><p>DinoHyumon was fighting the fire-ball spraying dinosaur, with both his Ronin Blade and Gururumon Saber in place of his standard butcher knives, but even with them he wasn't able to do much besides roll out of the way of the Digimon's "Horn Strike" attacks. This is because whenever he would attempt to actually strike back at his opponent…<p>

"**Lizard Dance!**"

"Yeah, that's going to work about as well as the last time."

**Program Activate! Metal Applied!**

A blue orb would pop out from the back of the Digimon, and instantly fly back down, hitting it and coating it with a metallic layer of skin. All of DinoHyumon's attacks would simply bounce off of his opponent, and if he was unfortunate enough to attack while being to close to his mouth…

"**Volcanic Strike!**"

He would find himself on the receiving end of one of the Digimon's fireballs. Thankfully, DinoHyumon's new found allies didn't seem to want him to do all the work. Or at least, they didn't attack him as well as their more obvious enemy.

"I don't know why you attack your own kind, Lizard-man, but Monochromon is mine! **Gauntlet Claw!**"

A Turuiemon dashed forward and tried its luck combating the now identified Monochromon, but did as well as the last opponent who physically attacked it: lying on its back covered in flames. Asami grimaced and gripped her D-Arc tightly, not sure exactly what to do next.

_Do I use Seadramon or Fugamon? He's using fire, so Seadramon might work best, but if he just steels himself up again then it just splash off of him until we run out of power. Fugamon could work, but he might be too heavy to knock over. Damn it, what is Dmitri doing?!_

His partner wasn't doing much better, spending most of his time dodging either laser fire or one of the three heads that had decided that a flaming opponent looked like an appetizing meal.

"Dance flame boy dance! **Serpent Bite! Serpent Bite! Triple Forces!**"

Cartwheeling and leaping out of the way of the lasers and rapid bites as best he could, Meramon tried firing at the large lizard at any opportunity he could spare.

"**Fireball! Fireball!**"

Dmitri was having a similar dilemma as Asami, looking through at his Bakemon, Starmon, and Woodmon cards.

_Bakemon is my best bet, but it's best to save him until I'm absolutely sure that Meramon can actually hit this guy! I thought he was faster than this, but apparently we're going to need freaking DinoHyumon over here if we want a hope in hell at landing a blow. But whenever we get close to hitting him…_

Case in point.

"**Magma Blast!**"

"Ah ah ah, no touching!"

**Program Activate! Wind Applied!**

The blue dinosaur Digimon would suddenly have a small gust of wind surround him, and his movements would pick up, leaving Meramon in the dust shooting at open plains, only adding the flames Monochromon had launched earlier. The Digimon he was trying to save were not taking kindly to their 'rescue'.

"If this is what you call help, then please stop. We can fight our own battles."

A group of Apemon, seven in total, descended upon the blue dinosaur, their fur bristling as they got closer.

"Stand still, Deltamon! **Metallic Fur!**"

Firing metal yellow quills at Deltamon, the Apemon had about as much success as Dmitri and Meramon. Deltamon suddenly appeared behind two of the Apemon, his left hand salivating.

"Oooh, apes for supper. **Serpent Bite!**"

His left hand bit down on both of them, reducing them to data and absorbing them into his being. Meramon glared in anger at both him and the Apemon.

"How was that any better? Maybe if you guys tried working with me we'd be able to take him!"

"You're one to talk! What's you're strategy besides mindlessly hurling fireballs?!"

"If you guys could draw his attention for just a minute-"

"I don't recall taking orders from you!"

Dmitri sweatdropped as his partner and the scrambling trainees argued amongst themselves all the while missing their common enemy and getting sucker punched on all sides. _What the hell is taking Colin and Maul so long? Shin really can't be that much of a stubborn old…oh crap he is._

* * *

><p>"Shin, we understand your concerns, but we really need to-"<p>

"You are not going down there, and that's final!"

"But Shin…"

The lion glared down at Maul, his hand moving towards his sword as he spoke.

"This isn't up for debate Maul! You six have to listen to me, or else-"

"Or else what? You attack us? You do that and you're out of Tamers who would even consider listening to you. Right now, you only got me, because those two are down there trying to help some Digimon you're just leaving to die. What do you want me to do, leave my friends to fight by themselves?"

"What do you think you can do when you get over there? You can see from here they're not doing as well as they could hope."

"I could try, we could fight!"

"_Yes_, because so long as you try it will all work out."

Colin shot Shin a dirty look, all the while motioning quickly for Maul to behind him.

"You're not going to get out of my way, are you?"

"No, not until you come to see reas-"

**Digi-Modify: Hyper Speed Activate!**

"What?!"

Charging into Shin's legs, Maul tripped up the big lion, landing him on his back. Before he could get up and do something about this, Colin had already swiped another two cards.

**Digi-Modify: Frigimon Activate!**

**Digivolution Activate!**

Stretching a paw out first so as to freeze Shin to the ground with a "Subzero Ice Punch", Maul was overtaken by the familiar data egg.

Kumamon…digivolve to…**Grizzlymon! Hah!**

Leaping onto his partner's back, Colin looked back at Shin, a sincere apologetic look on his face.

"SorrywedisagreebutIcan' !"

It took a little effort for Shin to struggle free of the ice, but that was all the time Colin and Maul needed to get to their friends. Staring in annoyance at their general direction, the mighty lion sighed and resigned himself to the fact that he would not be able to go about his mission the way he had hoped anymore. _Well, hope is for the young and inexperienced. I should have prepared better for the possibility that we would have to operate in the public eye. Might as well go and save their hides, because they have no idea what they're in for._

* * *

><p>"<strong>Akinankes!<strong>"

"**Ninja Fist!**"

"Do you guys ever get tired of making yourselves look like idiots?"

**Program Activate! Metal Applied!**

The five attacks, due to four Turuiemon attempting the same maneuver, just bounced off of Monochromon, leaving at least two Turuiemon and DinoHyumon exposed to an attack.

"**Horn Strike!**"

Ramming them with his horn, all three Digimon were looking like utter crap, DinoHyumon grabbing his sides and the Turuiemon being forced to support each other. Monochromon knocked the other two aside when they attempted to get in his way, and charged for DinoHyumon. Asami was about to swipe her Stamina card, when a familiar attack interrupted her train of thought.

"**Horn Stri-**"

"**Subzero Ice Punch!**"

Freezing the Monochromon in its tracks, Maul came up to the dinosaur Digimon and rammed him with his side, before continuing on with his signature move.

"**Maul Attack!**"

…it had about as much effect as the last few attacks, leaving the bear to bounce back in pain. DinoHyumon side at the display, his moment of joy dashed as quickly as it came.

"Well that was disappointing. Thought you were going to, oh I don' know, help or something."

"You're not loose data because I froze him in his tracks. You're welcome, yeah damn whiner."

Colin had dismounted close to Asami before Maul had rammed the Monochromon, and thought he'd be welcomed with happier praise as well.

"It's not that I'm not happy to see you Colin, but…"

"Oh what did I do now? Is this because Maul and I were trying to kill-steal a moment ago? Because we're not apologizing."

Smiling, she shook her head, pointing in Dmitri and Meramon's direction.

"While you are a punk for attempting that, no. I think it be better if you helped Dmitri instead."

"Is this one of those 'I didn't need your help Colin, stop making me look weak' things? Because I like to remind you that I'm behind on the kill-count."

Asami rose and planted a kiss on Colin's lips, silencing him so that she could go on with explaining her plan.

"Look, this guy's got some annoying armor going on where whenever we try to attack, he just reflects it off. Meramon would be able to cook him even with that metal armor on, but he's busy helping the Apemon over there, who ARE bitching at the help they're getting, as opposed to me, who would love to work with you. However, I'm needed here, and you should probably get going before Maul's Hyper Speed and Frigimon powers run out."

"…because the Deltamon over there is too fast for Meramon and with that combo I could freeze him in place, right?"

Asami smiled as he finished explaining the other part of her plan.

"You were watching, good. Saves me time explaining. Naturally DinoHyumon is the faster normally of our three, but I'm kind of busy…"

"Helping those who would bitch at you for your help, unlike you.'

"Exactly."

"Alright then, I'm off to tag in for Dmitri. Maul, you catch all of that?"

"Already headed over, hop on."

Leaping back on to his partner, Colin winked at Asami before speeding off towards Deltamon. Asami smiled, but went back to focusing on last long enough for Dmitri to get there. Using a Power Charge to heal DinoHyumon, she then slid two cards through her D-Arc.

**Digi-Modify: Stamina Activate!**

**Digi-Modify: Hyper Chip Activate!**

Feeling more than refreshed, though aware of his chances if he was to continue with the previous strategy, DinoHyumon put on a brave face and brought his two flaming custom swords in front of his face.

"Alright barbecue breath: Round two."

"Dmitri, we could use some rain!"

Seeing Colin and Maul bound towards him, Dmitri was a little confused by Colin's statement.

"How is that going to-"

"Rain, stars falling, do I have to spell it out?! I'm trying to be secretive here dude!"

Getting what he meant a little quicker now, Dmitri slid his Starmon card through his D-Arc, though he was unsure how this would help.

"I hope you have a plan."

**Digi-Modify: Starmon Activate!**

"**Meteor Shower!**"

Raining down massive fireballs from the sky, Meramon did little more than force the Apemon to flee frantically, and Deltamon to sneer more (if that was even possible, he already has a three head advantage on that front).

"Oh yes, a little more fire is going to help you hit me. NOT!"

**Program Activate! Wind Appli-**

"**Subzero Ice Punch!**"

Managing to once again hit his target, thought the ice was thinner due to the power leaving that very moment, Maul raced towards his opponent, his hyper speed leaving as well. Deltamon was shocked for a moment, and that moment wasted on confusion instead of trying to free himself was all Maul needed.

"**Maul Attack!**"

Colin's Grizzlymon smashed the skull hand of Deltamon, causing him to roar out in pain. Deltamon proceeded to smack Maul with his remaining hand/head, but he grizzly simply landed a few feet away, only a little wounded. Thankfully, his friend came bounding up beside him, eager to get in his kill.

"Do you mind; he kind of owes me."

"Normally a would say no, go ahead-"

"Lies, you're a kill-stealing sneak."

"-regardless, Asami and DinoHyumon need your metal-melting expertise over yonder. You can work out your anger over there."

"Fine. Dmitri, did you catch that?"

"Yeah I heard, let's go!"

Nodding at Colin, he and his partner dashed the other way, leaving the wounded Deltamon with them.

"Blasted flea-bitten savage!"

"Manners, jackass. You don't see me taking shots at your species."

Deltamon shot Colin a chilling look, but the boy didn't seem as upset as when Shin did the similar earlier.

"The only reason you beat me, mammal, is because you have the luxury of a Tamer. Wait till our Tamers come by, and then we'll see how well you do then. And considering how crapily your friends were faring till you came and interrupted us, I'd say you're in for a rough time."

Maul wasn't too happy to hear the same "you're only special because you have a Tamer" excuse used again so soon.

"Oh, is that what you figure? Because last I checked Digimon didn't just spit out elemental programs in combat without Tamers. Is this the part where you tell me you did that under you own power?"

Smiling, the Deltamon spat in Maul's direction.

"Oh, curious about that huh? Like to know how I did that?"

"Not really, I'll settle for just killing you."

"Typical response from a beast."

"So tired of your hypocritical bullshit. **Maul Att-**"

"**Mega Bone Stick!**"

Leaping up from behind Maul and landing in front of the Deltamon, an Apemon brought down his charged bone club down on Deltamon's central head. The Digimon looked surprised for a moment, before collapsing into a data stream that the ape the absorbed. Turning around, he smiled at Maul and gave him the thumbs up.

"Sorry about that, I know it was awfully rude, but he's responsible for killing some of my classmates. I thought it was best if one of us finished him off."

"Uh, no problem. That's okay I guess.'

Colin was less okay with this sudden change of events.

"Weren't you guys just giving my friend shit when he was trying to help you? Why are you suddenly so friendly?"

While the Apemon's face didn't sour per say, he did become noticeably less happy upon that subject being brought up.

"It's not that we didn't appreciate the effort, but…"

He was interrupted by one of his Gazimon classmates.

"He's a damn fire elemental; everyone knows they're aligned with the Dramons!"

The Apemon looked at his friend in anger, giving him the biggest 'shut up' look he could muster. Colin frowned, not liking this situation one bit.

"In case you hadn't heard, we're some of the Tamers from File Island. We aren't aligned with anyone; we just got off the boat. Meramon doesn't know a thing about what you're talking about; otherwise he wouldn't have wasted his time trying to save you ungrateful jackasses."

The Gazimon looked surprised, but stood his ground.

"What are you talking about, Tamers fresh off the boat either head to Bowser Kingdom or the DLC Territory and sign up to join the war. There's no middle ground here, and not a single elemental player has sided with the group that doesn't match type. Why are you free different?"

"Uuhhh…"

Colin just realized one of the reasons why Shin probably didn't want them getting involved today: it would blow their cover.

_D'oh._

* * *

><p>"No no no no-"<p>

"**Magma Blast!**"

Annihilating Monochromon with one attack, Meramon looked pleased with himself as the data flew towards him. Dmitri walked up to Asami, having followed behind his partner slower than he would have liked. He bent over and grasped his knees, trying to catch his breath

"You…rang?"

"You okay there Dmi?"

Dmitri looked up, a little annoyed at what he thought he heard.

"What did you say?"

"What, Dmi? Thought it would be a cute nickname for you."

"No."

"Oh come on."

"You are not calling me Dmi."

"Spoilsport."

Asami began to notice the worried looks some of the Turuiemon were giving Meramon and DinoHyumon.

"I take it that they weren't any friendlier over on your side."

"Not particularly, no, though they at least didn't fire upon us."

"No, that seemed to have been pretty covered by you two."

He knew she was just teasing him, but still Dmitri felt the need to defend himself.

"Hey, if the **Y****блюдок** would have stopped moving for just a second, there would have been less-"

"**Treasure Lance!**"

"**Fairy Lance!**"

Sandiramon's spear clashed with Piximon's, and while this fight had been going on since the beginning and was fairly audible throughout, our Tamers had forgotten about it in their brief moment of rest.

"Oh right, those two."

Asami sat down on a nearby boulder, not bothering to look up.

"Piximon can handle that, I'm not getting up again if I'm just going to be stared at some more."

"**Desolation Claw!**"

"Desolation what?"

In answer to Asami's question, Meramon, DinoHyumon, and a fair amount of Lopmon and Gazimon suffered damage from incoming lasers. The damage seemed to have severely harmed them, as they weren't re-stabilizing from event the merest wounds. The two Tamers rushed over to the side of their partners, who were struggling to keep in their Champion forms and on their knees.

"Asami, what kind of attack was that?!"

"I have no idea, I've never seen that Digimon before!"

She activated another weak code, and DinoHyumon seemed to be fine, but the pain from the attack was still etched on his face.

"What Digimon?!"

"That one up there!"

Looking up, Dmitri saw a Dragon like humanoid, colored in black with four red tattered wings and blades on his arms looking down at them. His head lacked eyes, similar to the Strikedramon they had dealt with earlier. Activating his own weak code, Dmitri noticed that he seemed to have just used up his last one. _We need to survive this; I'm not letting Meramon get deleted here. No way._

"Meramon, take him down!"

"Dmitri, wait! I'm going to need Grizzlymon to DNA Digivolve with!"

"What, why? I mean they're on their way, but why do you think that-"

"He's an Ultimate!"

This came from DinoHyumon, who seemed a bit sour that he didn't have the option to take down an Ultimate himself. Asami was a bit concerned by this shared observation by their partners.

"How do you know that?"

"Trust me that type of pain can only be inflicted by an Ultimate, or higher."

_A Mega this soon?_

Asami knew DinoHyuman was only suggesting it, but the thought of having to deal with something like a Piedmon or BlackWarGreymon this soon when none of them can reach Ultimate by themselves was not a pleasing thought.

_No way, even if this isn't a game, that is too much even for the MAGAMI sanctioned Tamers to deal with right now. I was hoping the amount of Ultimates wouldn't be this high though._

Colin and Maul arrived besides their teammates pretty quickly, overhearing the part about the new flying menace being an Ultimate. Colin's D-Arc was already held up.

"Well what are we waiting for, New Year's Eve? Let's take him!"

**Meramon**…**Grizzlymon…**DNA Digivolve to…**BlueMeramon! Kyaa!**

* * *

><p>Shin had been standing to the side of Piximon and Sandiramon's fight for most of this battle, watching the Tamer's sort themselves out. While he was still annoyed with their choice to interfere, he did feel slightly proud of them for thinking on how to defeat their opponents rather than just blindly attacking them. Still, Cyberdramon's appearance changed things. <em>Is their BlueMeramon combo strong enough to take on a Cyberdramon yet? Either way, Piximon's reinforcements should be arriving soon. I think I'll let those three see what Calvary awaits them, and then they'll understand why I told them to avoid this battle.<em>

Piximon had not missed the giant lion standing by while he was engaging the snake.

"Shin, I know that's you. Only you can put that much effort into pouting."

"Hello Raph."

Sandiramon didn't like the thought of being ignored.

"Hey, pay attention Tinkerbelle. **Treasure Lance!**"

They continued to joust, Piximon (Raph) bantering away to Shin the entire time.

"Those humans are with you then?"

"…"

"Oh, the silent treatment. Come one now, you can't be angry at me of all people. I stood up for you when the others tried to force you to leave."

"I'm not angry with you, Raph.'

"Then what is with the silence and secrecy?"

"Because I know who you're going to report to about today, so I'd like to leave as little information as I can."

Piximon would have taken that time to sigh, but any sign of weakness would exploited by Sandiramon.

"Back off scaly! **Pit Bomb!**"

Tossing three bombs in the snake's direction, Piximon was annoyed to see Sandiramon slither around all three, before lunging forward with its jaw wide open.

"**Venom Axe!**"

"**Beast Sword!**"

Coming in-between his old friend and Sandiramon, Shin blocked the snake's path with his blade, leaving Sandiramon nothing to clamp down on but cold Digi-Chrome. The bite damaged some of the snake's teeth, and he had to mentally remind himself not to regurgitate the lance or else risk damaging his mouth further, and quickly sped backwards to avoid counter attack. It did not go as planned.

"**Pit Bomb!**"

"**Fist of the Beast King!**"

Pelted by both bombs and animated fire, Sandiramon was forced to retreat further than he'd like, and in doing so noticed that both his previous subordinates had been deleted.

"Well, this turned out horribly rather fast. I guess you actually did train you mutts right Pixie. Oh wait, who's that over there?"

Spotting the Tamers, the scene was rather different from what was last depicted. Instead of BlueMeramon triumphing over Cyberdramon, or at least fighting him to a standstill, the Dragon-man had completely stomped the DNA Ultimate. The signs of their battle were scorched all over the field around them, with blue flames flickering on the ground and more trainees nursing their fresh wounds. BlueMeramon was being held by his neck by the flying Cyberdramon, with Kotemon lying on the floor beneath them, having been swatted away when he tried to aid his friends. The Tamers were rather distraught.

"Kotemon!"

"Maul!"

"BlueMeramon, hang in there!"

"**Cyber Nail!**"

Cyberdramon kept slashing at them with his claws, tearing and tearing, but then would stop just short of deleting them so that some of the damage would repair, before starting again. He smirked down at the Tamers as he did it, relishing in their helplessness.

"Pity there's nothing you can do for them. There's not even a decent suicide card in you decks is there? Because I'm not going to stop this anytime soon, but when I do, I'll be sure to take a swipe at you before you're booted out of my world."

Asami was glaring hellfire through her eyes, while trying to wake Kotemon with her hands.

"You sack of garbage."

Cyberdramon scoffed at her insult, continuing to torture the fresh Ultimate.

"**Cyber Na-**"

"**Armored Tiger Tail!**"

A long, stripped, nunchuck like weapon flew up and struck Cyberdramon multiple times, knocking him down to the ground far away from the Tamers and forcing him to let go of BlueMeramon. The weapon was in fact a tail, belonging to a winged tiger with a red scarf. The Tiger stared at the three Tamers briefly, before nodding in the direction of the recovering trainees and Piximon.

"You five, come with me if you don't want to get deleted."

Dmitri was feeling a little hostile at the moment, understandably.

"Is that a threat?!"

Sighing, the tiger calmly replied.

"My name is Miharamon, and I am one of the 12 Devas, servants of the Digimon Sovereigns. However, due to this conflict you can consider me an ally of the Beast/Nature faction. Since you have helped them, you can expect help from me. Your escort, Shin, is over on that hill by Piximon."

The Tamers looked up to see Shin blasting at Sandiramon alongside Piximon. Asami was still rather wary of the newcomer, but one of the titles he threw out caught her attention.

"You said you're a servant of the Digimon Sovereigns. So what you're saying is that you know Baihumon, right?"

The tiger nodded, though he seemed to be growing impatient.

"We can talk later, once we've withdrawn from the battlefield. Sandiramon will likely have reinforcements coming soon, and with them will likely be Majiramon. I can help Shin fend off one Deva, but two of my own is more than I can handle, as well as saving you from someone like Cyberdramon. We must go, now!"

He motioned for them to follow with his tail, charging towards the battle between Leomon, Piximon and Sandiramon. Dmitri still didn't look convinced, but looking at his downed partner, who was shimmering and shrinking back to Kumamon and Candlemon, he wasn't about to push it. Especially since Cyberdramon was stirring. Colin, on the other hand…

"Wait, that snake's a Deva too? Why are the Deva's fighting each other, if they all serve the same Digi-god?"

"We can question their religious structure later, right now we need to pick up are partners and go!"

Not questioning her logic, Colin heaved Maul onto his shoulders and took off in the direction of Shin's fight, not sure what exactly the tiger was expecting them to accomplish with the partners in the state they were in. Thankfully, the Deva seemed content with pulling his own weight, and simply clearing the path for them.

"**Treasure Stick!**"

Pulling off a similar nunchuck tail strike as before, only this time with a bladed end to his tail, Mihiramon struck at Sandiramon from behind, smacking him right into a waiting Piximon.

"**Fairy Tail!**"

Thrusting his spear into one of the white snake's eyes, Piximon doubled back as Sandiramon thrashed out in pain.

"You'll regret that, you pink puffball!"

"**Pit Bomb!**"

"**Fist of the Beast King!**"

"**Treasure Lance!**"

The three Digimon's barrages forced Sandiramon to burrow his way into the ground, a trail of his underground escape being seen as he dug off across the prairie, towards where Cyberdramon was recovering.

Shin now focused on who it was that was escorting the Tamers to him, and the look on his face could only be described as extremely sour.

"Mihiramon."

"Leomon, I see you brought new recruits for our cause. It almost makes up for your desertion."

There was some stirring amongst the surviving trainees, mostly the Apemon and Lopmon, who started to form up around their Deva ally. Shin didn't seem at all put off by their presence.

"Sure, I brought them to help that Lunatic's crusade. Because we left each other on such _amicable_ terms, I just thought it would be neighborly of me drag three innocent kids into a mad-mon's war!"

Shin found himself threatened by a plethora of bone clubs, the remaining Apemon having apparently not taken a liking to Shin's rising tone towards Mihiramon. The tiger motioned for them to lay down their arms, still locking eyes with Shin.

"Your sarcasm aside, you didn't really expect that we'd just let you and your little band walk away after their display today, did you?"

"…no, I don't."

"Then you know that their options are limited."

Asami was getting tired of being spoken about as if they weren't even there. That and the fact of the matter was they were being led to believe that they were in a hurry, considering that Cyberdramon and Sandiramon seemed to be receiving familiar reinforcements in the form of a horde of Strikedramon.

"Uh guys, we're right here. You mind not talking about us as if that wasn't the case?"

Shin shot a stern glare in her direction as he addressed her.

"None of this would be happening if you all had listened to me to begin with!"

Mihiramon was of a different mind than his angry lion "friend".

"And for that, Tamers, we are grateful. Many of the trainees here would have likely been deleted if you had not acted when you did. I had heard of Sandiramon's plans to attack our training site here, but was afraid I'd not make it in time to save any of them."

The Strikedramon were growling far off, shaking their claws in the air but still staying where they were, as if waiting for a signal. Shin was growing tired of the conversation, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Look Mihiramon, their partners need to see a healer now, so if you're going to take them to see WereGarurumon, do it now and stop wasting our time!"

"I have no problem taking them to see our chief, but if you want their Digimon partners to be healed, you must accompany us back to RDF."

The Tamers were understandably disgusted by this.

"What the hell man, you're holding our partners hostage?!"

"Not hostage, they will simply have to hold out without our aid if Leomon refuses to come back and answer for his treason."

"What I did barely counts as treason."

Cyberdramon was starting to look healthy again, and Asami was growing incredibly tired of this. Thankfully, she wasn't the only one.

"Um yeah hi, I know you all hate it when I megaphone into your brains and all, but Shin buddy, just fucking surrender to them already."

"What?!"

"We both know the worst WereGarurumon will do is reprimand you in front of everyone you know, have you constantly tailed, and at worst, restrict your conversations with those three as politely as he can without making it obvious. Candlemon, Kumamon and Kotemon really don't look to great right now, so swallow that pride of yours and submit for now. You know me; I'll find a way to slip you out of their watch when possible."

Sighing, the lion nodded in agreement with Lucky, to the confusion of everyone present (as the hacker was only addressing him), and Shin laid his sword in front of Mihiramon.

"If that is what it takes, then I submit myself to your custody."

Mihiramon shook his head, nudging the sword back into Shin's possession.

"For the friendship we once had, I will not take your sword. There's very little you could do to me with it regardless, and I'm more than fast enough to keep you from harming my subordinates."

Motioning with his tail, three yellow fox like Digimon, each with nine tails, soared out of the forest near they were standing by and landed in front of the shabby remainder of the training forces. Asami looked on in confusion at the new Digimon, Colin noticing this as he drew closer.

"I take it you don't recognize these Digimon either?"

"No, they must have been designed for that cancelled Tamers season."

Mihiramon roared out orders to the remaining Digimon.

"We are leaving, report back to Blossomon when you return to base. Kyubimon, cover our escape."

The three foxes nodded, and the blue tips of their tails began to blaze as the Strikedramon finally rushed forward, who were not about to make it easy for their enemies to flee.

"**Fox Tail Inferno!**"

The three vixens began to pepper the rushing Strikedramon with a volley of spooky looking blue fireballs, one for each of their nine tails. With each impact a ghostly scream could be heard, though it's difficult to tell whether it was from the Strikedramon, or the fireballs themselves.

The large group ran off into the forest, the Tamers being escorted by the surviving Lopmon, thought having a bunch of small, adorable brown rabbits struggling to keep pace with three teenaged humans was more comical than reassure. Sadly the humor in this sight was lost on the three, as they were more concerned with their partners' failing health. Candlemon looked the worst for wear, odd as he was at least in his Ultimate form while taking damage, while Kotemon was previously just a Champion. Maul had seen better days, though Colin took some comfort knowing that he didn't look nearly as bad as when he was originally deleted. That comfort was lost when he noticed an unwelcome shadow dart above. Looking up, he saw that the Kyubimon had failed to keep at least one Digimon from chasing after them.

"Everybody move, it's Cyberdra-"

"**Desolation Claw!**"

All Colin could do was duck down with his partner and hope that everybody else was doing the same. Thankfully, his warning seemed to have alerted the vast majority of the company. Shin and Piximon were even mounting a counter-attack.

"**Fist of the Beast King!**"

"**Pit Bomb!**"

Their attacks briefly slowed down Cyberdramon's flurry of lasers, but the dragon's attack eventually won out and rained down on his targets, though most managed to get out of the way. Mihiramon seemed unfazed by the attack, which pissed Cyberdramon right the hell off.

"I'm going to load the whole lot of you! **Desolation Cl-**"

"Mammothmon?"

"**Freezing Breath!**"

Cyberdramon found his hands suddenly frozen solid, and in the next second not so solid.

"**Armored Tiger Tail!**"

Mihiramon had smashed through Cyberdramon's hands, leaving behind stumps bleeding out data. Most of the Mammothmon were charging past the group, seemingly to aid the Kyubimon in fending off the Dramon headed there way. Some of the Mammothmon, however, clearly had a different task; that being the rides for the Tamers. There wasn't much conversation to be had on the matter, as they quickly lifted all three of them and their respective partners up with their trunks and placed them on their backs.

"What the hell?!"

"Hey, watch it!"

"**Chto za huy **(What the fuck)?!"

Mihiramon tried his hand at calming the Tamers down.

"The Mammothmon will take you to our base in the ROM Forest much faster this way. I believe you three want to save your partners as quick as possible."

He still was on the receiving end of their death glares (and Dmitri's colorful use of his native language), but they seemed calm enough to not lose their balance and follow of their escorts. Shin quieted a growl at the sight, having at first thought that Mihiramon was up to something.

* * *

><p>The ROM Forest, 3 hours 20 minutes spent.

After having travelled through some massive dark caves, a waterfall passageway, and over some wooden bridges above a jagged, stony death, the company came to large wooden wall, patrolled by Turuiemon and floating plant Digimon that resembled sentient sunflowers with lizard-like bodies. Piximon called up to them as they came up to a gate.

"Hey, anybody awake up there?"

Looking down, one of the sunflower Digimon brightened up upon seeing Piximon.

"Raph, you're back! We heard you guys were getting ambushed by Sandiramon!"

"We were, but some of us managed to escape, thanks to some help."

The sunflower Digimon spotted the three Tamers on top of their respective Mammothmon, their partners looking no better than before. It covered its mouth with one of its hands in shock.

"Oh my, they look horrible."

"Let us in, Sunflowmon, they need some healing."

Not wasting anytime, the Sunflowmon signaled to the Turuiemon to open up the gate. The Mammothmon rushed in with their charges, and the Tamers were greeted with the site of a vast, across tree-tops city, like something one would expect from a Robin Hood movie or one of Tolkien's elves from the Lord of the Rings. Turning right after the first tree, the Mammothmon stopped outside a large hut, with s sign depicting a yellow fox's head reading "Renamon Den: the House of Healing". The Tamers quickly jumped off their rides, carefully grabbing their partners as they did and rushing inside with them.

"Help, we need some help!"

They were greeted with the sight of a dozen or so upright foxes, about as tall as a male adult human, going about their business, some of them carrying various herbs and others attending to similarly wounded Digimon. One of these foxes, this one wearing a red face veil, came up and extended her arms towards Colin, signaling that she'd be taking Maul. The hue on her coat was darker than the others, almost a tinge of blue in it under the light sometimes.

"My name is Renamon, like all of my sisters here. We'll take good care of your partners, there's no need to worry."

With some minor hesitation, Colin gently handed over his partner to the tall Renamon. The other two did the same, with about equal the amount of hesitation. The whole experience was rough on them, and even though they had lost before against Hyogamon and they briefly lost Maul and Colin due that, this time was more traumatizing. They were low on Power Charges and Weak Codes, and there shiny new DNA Digivolution ended up not being that useful against only their third Ultimate opponent. They could have lost all of their partners as opposed to one this time, and then what? There wasn't a guarantee that the Beast Digimon were going to take them in, and even now that seemed to be an invitation extended so long as they were of some use. Colin was only able to save Maul because Starmon happened to have the equipment needed to revive him. They all won't necessarily be that lucky next time.

Colin was leaning against the wall next to the room where Maul was being treated by the red veiled Renamon. The room was closed off only by a curtain, and through it Colin could see the Renamon run a glowing palm over Maul's damaged areas. Looking away, he saw Asami holding one of her arms and standing off to the side, looking incredibly worried. He went over to her, getting her attention, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to comfort her.

"I think they'll be okay, don't worry."

A small smile appearing on her face, Asami pulled him closer to her. Dmitri was sitting on a bench nearby, wringing his hands in worry and frustration. One of the idle Renamon came over to him.

"You three are friends with Leomon, correct?"

Dmitri barely smirked at the thought of being Shin's "friend", but nodded none the less.

"Then you might want to hurry over to the Sacred Cedar Clearing, because from what I hear he might be going away if no one speaks up for him."

"What?!"

The other two had heard this as well, coming over to the speaking Renamon, who sweatdropped after founding herself surrounded. Putting up two hands in protest, she tried to calmly inform the troubled Tamers.

"When he left us before, that Leomon apparently had taken some very sensitive items with him that are not his to claim, and there are some among us who consider that punishable by deletion."

"So there just going to murder him, over some petty theft?"

Some of the other Renamon narrowed their eyes and glared at Asami, clearly not considering the items taken to be in way "petty", but the one speaking kept calm and continued to address the Tamers respectfully.

"Those items mean a great deal to many of the Digimon here, and could even help us win this war once are scholars learnt their secrets. Regardless, I know that you're only here because Leomon guided you this far, so if you wish to repay that favor I suggest you hurry over to the Sacred Cedar Clearing. Shotaro, if you could?"

From across the great hall, a boy around the group's age came out from one of the curtained-off rooms. Dressed in a plain white business shirt, while wearing a red tie and purple pants, the boy seemed unsure of the newcomers at first, walking over to them slowly. The Renamon that had summoned him gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, their partners aren't artificial. They would be caring this much if they didn't know that."

Looking at the group again, of whom all of them nodded, the boy seemed to relax and let down his guard, coming closer with a hand outstretched.

"Sorry about that, it's just that the last time I hung out with other tamers they tried to delete and load my partner. My name is Shotaro, Murakami Shotaro. The cautious fellow hiding alongside my back is Kudamon, or just Kuda for short; say hi buddy."

A white weasel like Digimon crawled out from the boy's shirt and planted himself on his left shoulder, looking-over the group before nodding solemnly and speaking.

"Greetings. I hear that you're looking for the Sacred Cedar Clearing."

"Yes please, we're in a hurry."

"Then we shouldn't waste anytime then. Show them the way Shotaro."

"Of course, follow me."

The boy raced out of the hall, followed quickly by Dmitri and Colin. Asami started after them, but paused out of concern for Kotemon. The Renamon noticed this and placed a paw on her shoulder.

"Whatever your decision, or the outcome of your friend's fate, your partners are safe here. Not even our chief has the right to harm those under our care."

Deciding the trust the Digimon, Asami raced after her team to where Shin was being tried.

* * *

><p>Sacred Cedar Clearing, 3 hours and 30 minutes spent.

"You insolent, prideful-"

"Yes, insulting me is going to make this go easier for you. Your interrogation skills have _clearly_ improved since last I saw you, Blossomon."

Shin was shackled to the floor with two sets of cuffs, both of them made out of sturdy looking Digi-Chorme, and a chain wrapped around his neck that was imbedded in the dirt behind him. Mihiramon and a dog Digimon, looking like a bigger, purple version of Seasarmon, stood guard on either side of him, though this was likely a tad bit overkill due to the fact that Mihiramon was certainly an Ultimate, as his partner likely was as well, while Shin was just a Champion. Before them sat a tall wolf man on a throne, his head resting on one fist while the other idly tapped his armrest. Besides him was an irate looking flower, likely the Blossomon Shin had just insulted. Sure enough, it roared out bloody murder towards the lion, until the wolf Digimon raised a paw, silencing everyone around (there was also quite the crowd circling the five, since the tree they were stationed by was a public space and the event was not one to miss).

"Leomon, or rather Shin since that's how you like to refer to yourself now; do you have any idea what your actions have done?"

"I'm sure you'd like to blame me for everything wrong with this world, from the Folder Plains burning to why your toast landed jelly side down this morning."

"Ignoring your callous attitude to our fallen comrades, you are responsible for the lack of morale amongst the troops, as well as abandoning your battalion so as to escape with the armors like a coward!"

"Coward?! It was that damned battalion that betrayed me, WereGarurumon, and if not for me your enemies would have all the armors by now! I told you this the first time, but you're so deep in your vixens-"

"**Wolf Claw!**"

Twin vacuum blades soared to where Shin was, and cut into his body, while leaving the chains undamaged. The lion fell to his knees, cupping his wounded ribs as they leaked out data. WereGarurumon was growling fiercely, getting up from his throne and standing before lion, fist drawn back in order to begin wailing on him.

"I've had about enough of your disrespect as it is, but don't you DARE insult Renamon in front of me. You're only still alive because you brought-"

"Shin!"

The four tamers had made into in time to see Shin get attacked by the wolf on the throne, and Asami, Dmitri, and Colin all looked ready to pick a fight with him right there and then. Shotaro noticed the anger in his new acquaintances' eyes, and chose to back away out of fear of getting caught in the middle of their actions.

"Stay away, this does not involve you three!"

"Quiet."

Mihiramon roughly slapped at Shin's wounded side with his tail. AS the lion roared in pain, Piximon looked on from the crowd in sadness.

"Shin…"

WereGarurumon looked up from his fallen target to see the Tamers he was just speaking of. Putting only an extremely welcoming air, he brought up his arms in celebration, acting as there wasn't a prisoner chained in front of him or the assembled crowd.

"Ah, welcome young ones. I hope your partners are recuperating well. I know we haven't met yet, but I'd like to thank you for saving our-"

"Shove it, WereGarurumon! What the hell are you doing to our friend?!"

"Friend? Ah, you mean Leomon over here? Though I hear you know him as Shin instead."

"Answer the lady's question, _pal_."

WereGarurumon hid a knowing grin, noticing how Colin immediately spoke up when he avoided Asami's question. _So, a boy after my own heart. His lady comes first. I could use that._

"I was getting to that, young one. Shin here has taken some very sensitive items, or rather weapons, from our community, ones that we need in order to stave off that filthy Dramon invasion."

"Yeah, well he's kind of with us, and we don't take kindly to people who hurt our friends."

WereGarurumon raised up his hands in mock defense, though he knew that without their partners the Tamers weren't going to get past the crowd, who had come to see Shin get punished, let alone Mihiramon and Caturamon, the dog Deva.

"Well I would think that you'd want to get back at the ones who put your partners in such a sorry state then, and hopefully not take it out on little old me."

"We just saw you attack Shin. He counts as well."

Normally Asami or Colin would have reacted quizzically at Dmitri's claim that Shin was his friend, though today they were a tad bit to pissed off for the comical reaction routine. That and they noticed he never actually called Shin his friend, but it was close enough.

"Like I said, Shin has committed a crime against us, and is responsible for the death of many of the comrades of the Digimon you see gathered here today."

Looking around, Asami saw amongst the vast amount of Digimon some Floramon, Monzaemon, Gorillamon, Gatomon, Mikemon, BlackGatomon, Lopmon, and a green and white variation of Lopmon with only one horn. There were also some Tapirmon, Vegiemon, Woodmon, Mushroomon, and even some Gazimon. A lot of them were definitely looking rather fearsome, even wrathful, but some of them seem rather civil looking. She was still too pissed off to be scared by this, but she recognized the fact that her ability to do something about the matter was lessened greatly without Kotemon by her side.

Blossomon nodded in agreement, pointing a vine in Shin's direction as she (/it?) spoke.

"This one was notorious for belittling the efforts of any none Beast Digimon he was forced to work with, and furthermore-"

"Bullshit, I've worked with him back on File Island, and there he had no problem working with Togemon, Starmon, and a couple Deputymon! Are you really trying to pull the race card?!

WereGarurumon gave Blossomon an amused look, as if they'd discussed not trying to use that beforehand and being greatly tickled by the fact that Asami literally called her on her bullshit.

Shin, while not in any condition to smile right there and then, took comfort that these three, while not the best lawyers around, were trying their very best to defend him. They were teenagers, so he shouldn't expect much, but the thought was nice.

"So you think he's the reason some of your Digimon are dead. And you think the best way to resolve the situation is to delete him?"

Asami was startled by Colin's rather cold delivery of that last line. WereGarurumon was gauging the young man before him, trying to see how to get him on his side.

"I never said we were going to do that."

He knew that saying this would instantly get him in the bad books with the more vengeful Digimon around, but he knew he could win them back later, as soon as he secured the Tamers' support.

"So then you do you plan on doing with him then?"

"I was trying to interrogate him as to the whereabouts of our weapons, but then you three appeared and practically accused me of being a dictator. Understandable, the world of adults can seem confusing to someone as young as you."

Shocking both his teammates and some of the assembled crowd, Colin charged towards the wolf Digimon, only to have his path barred by a more reactionary Gazimon. Not that Colin cared, as he leapt over the small Digimon's head and kept running. Mihiramon moved to get in his way, but WereGarurumon signaled him to stop.

"No, let him come. I'm curious to see what he does."

"I've had about enough of you!"

Blossomon still reacted hostile towards the approaching Tamer, but before she could swipe a harsh blow with her vine, WereGarurumon leapt in her path and caught the vine, leaving his side open for attack. Taking the chance, Colin leapt up at him and landed a punch square into WereGarurumon's cheek.

"He got him!"

"No Asami, look."

Colin winced quite a bit upon impact, but (not to anyone's surprise, not even his), his blow did little besides tilt the Digimon's head in the direction his fist was travelling.

"Colin, get out of here now. It's not worth getting booted out again; concentrate on why you're here!"

Shin was treated to another slap from Mihiramon.

Smiling, WereGarurumon lightly slapped Colin aside, knocking him into a bush nearby. Some Digimon on the side howled with laughter at the sight, and Asami was about to charge forward herself, but Dmitri held her back.

"Wait a second, we can't just go rushing after him."

"The hell are you talking about, I'm not letting him get booted again!"

He was already curious about what exactly Shin had expected the boy to do for him but that other bit of info Shin and Asami had let slip interested WereGarurumon quite a bit. He looked away from where he assumed Colin was still lying flat on his back nursing his stomach to look at Asami and Dmitri, arms crossed.

"Oh, so you're not one of MAGAMI's test rats. And yet you made to Server, how admirable of you. Still, I wonder whether or not it would be best to report you three to them then."

"How's this for an answer?!"

Tossing to branches at him, Colin charged at the wolf again, with a third branch clenched in his right hand. WereGarurumon swatted the two branches away with easy, showing slight irritation at this point.

"Really, you should learn when to stop and count your blessings."

Throwing a punch, he was surprised to find Colin side-stepping the blow, though a little poorly as he did manage to clip him. The boy then followed up with a quick thrust of the branch into one of WereGarurumon's eyes, which apparently was strong enough to sting the Ultimate.

"Graahh, you little twerp!"

The "little twerp" continued with a sweep kick, and though it took more strength than he had anticipated, he brought the wolf to the ground. Jumping up on top of him, Colin prepared to start wailing on him, only to be quickly swatted off with a free paw and then grabbed just as quickly.

"Haaack!"

"Colin!"

"Well that's quite enough of that! **Wolf…** heh, no, let's not do that."

Dropping Colin, who resisted the urge to nurse his aching sides, WereGarurumon chuckled and rubbed his chin, eyeing the three Tamers.

"You got guts kid. You're dumb as bricks to try and take on me, but you got in some good shots, and that's more than I can say for weasel-pants over there."

He shot a glance towards where Shotaro was standing, and the boy tried to cover himself from sight with an enlarged leaf that was nearby. Returning his attention to Colin, he offered the kid a hand up.

"Alright, you don't want me to delete Shin here, but I can't have him go unpunished for abandoning us and taking the sacred armors with him. Also, you kind of attacked a public figure, and I think that's just as much a serious offense where you're from as it is here. So here's what I propose."

He motioned for the other two to come forward, and with reluctance they complied, all the while eyeing the now trigger-itchy Digimon around.

"The Dramon that came to back-up Sandiramon will be banging at our outer defense for quite some time, and from what I've heard your partners are too under-leveled to take them on and get their revenge even when fully recovered. If you want to pay your debt to me, and keep Leomon here alive, you're going to have to sign up with us Beast and Nature Digimon for a while. I'll be generous, considering you can only be in our world for 5 hours at a time, and you're likely be at your limit very soon, and only force your conscription for about a week. After that, you're free to go, and can even pitch up tent here in our country free of charge. But you will fight for me, and go where I tell you. And any items that look important, you bring back to me. Got it?"

The Tamers looked at each other, trying to figure out their options. Dmitri shot Colin an irritated look, who didn't back down from it and shot one back, clearly still in the odd angry state he was when he charged at WereGarurumon. Asami looked at her boyfriend with concern, but didn't say a thing. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she looked into his eyes.

"It's the best we can do for now. We'll talk about what just happened later."

Keeping the glance for a moment, he sighed and nodded. Asami returned her gaze to WereGarurumon and nodded in agreement.

"You have yourself a deal. When do we start?"

* * *

><p>DLC Territory (Land is not so much neutral as it is disputed), outside of the Digitamamon Pub, same time.

"Just a little more guys, we've almost made it!"

"Slow down damn it, they're nearly on me!"

"If you don't want to die, then **you** better keep up!"

"**Tusk Crusher!**"

Charging at frightening speeds for a creature its size, Mammothmon gored the closet Strikdramon it could reach, reducing him to data and absorbing the particles that flew into him as he charged on forwards. The remaining 4 Strikedramon looked back in fear, but calmed down a bit when they saw that Mammothmon couldn't maintain that speed.

"Hah, what's the matter fatty? Can't keep up with a real mon?"

"**Blast Coffin!**"

A blast of dark energy struck the mouthy Strikedramon, binding it sand beneath it feet and torturing him all the while.

"Gaaaah! Guys, help me!"

"No way dude, that's a Fangmon attack, I'm not dealing with that shit!"

"It's just a Champion, no stronger than us. You two stay back and get him free, I'll report back to one of the Tamers inside!"

"What, so you get to live while we're fed to the wolves?! You blasted coward!"

"**Blast Coffin!**"

"**Snipe Steal!**"

The first attack bound yet another Strikedramon, the one who was just talking back to his captain, and the second one silenced the previously downed Strikedramon. The remaining free Strikdramon that had been ordered to stay behind saw a red, elongated wolf stand over where one of his fallen allies used to be, absorbing his data in a bored manner. The other Fangmon came charging towards him, ignoring his other downed ally.

"No, GET AWAY! **STRIKE CLAW!**"

In his fear, the Strikedramon chose the weaker of his two attacks in an effort to strike faster, costing him his life as his blow missed and the enemy Fangmon circled around his claw and came at his side, his own claws outstretched.

"**Snipe Steal!**"

* * *

><p> Digitamamon Pub

"Quick, any Tamer who wants free experience, I need your help. My squad was sent to get support in our siege of the Beast Digimon base, but we were intercepted by a pack of the mongrels on the way. Please, we need your hel-"

"**Blast Coffin!**"

The last bit of his plea was garbled up by him crying out in pain as another dark energy blast struck him this time

A few Tamers looked up from their sub-games and item shopping to see the Strikedramon struggle on the ground. Amongst them was Hayate, looking intrigued at the prospect of another fight. Quickly running over to the downed Digimon, he brought his ear close to its mouth.

"Quickly friend, you don't have much time. What type of Digimon were you fighting exactly?"

"There is a pack of Fangmon closing in; they slaughtered most of my squad. I'm only paralyzed, so if you could get a healer…"

The boy had already lost interest, hearing that a squad of Strikedramon, the supposed elite Champions of the Dramon army, had been taken about by so no name other pack of Champions. He got up and was starting to turn away, headed back for his room.

"Sorry, on a strict Ultimate Digimon diet. Deva's orders, not good for my stats-grinding plan."

A couple of other Tamers chuckled at this, and went back to their little activities, showing just as much lack of interest in getting involved in this event.

"What are you doing, they're going to attack this bar at any second! You need to get prepared!"

"Eh, we'll just let one of the rookie Tamers take care of it, they could use the experience."

"You don't understand, they have a Mammoth-"

A Fangmon burst through the door, charging right for his fallen target and bearing its fangs.

"**Snipe Steal!**"

Slashing at the Strikedramon's throat, the dragon soldier disappeared and was taken into the scarlet wolf's being. Looking up at the room full of tamers, the wolf showed no fear, and didn't even utter a word. Hayate just looked at him with amusement, while making a flicking motion with his hand behind his back as he spoke.

"Not even as much as a 'little pig, little pig, let me in' before you huffed and puffed your way in? No one appreciates the classics anymore."

Staring at the tamer for a moment, the Fangmon snarled and opened his maw towards him.

"**Blast Coffin!**"

"**Helmet Reversal!**"

Ryudamon reflected the attack back at the wolf, knocking it out of the pub and paralyzing it with its own attack. The Digitamamon in charge just looked over the counter, looked at Hayate, and sighed.

"Please do try not to make too much of mess out there, I just had the n00bs clean up the last mess you left."

"No promises."

Hayate ran out of the pub, but not before stopping at the door to call out 'dibs', making it clear that the Mammothmon was his. No one bothered to challenge him, considering the power packed in his little rookie.

"**Snipe Steal!**"

"**Helmet Reversal!**"

The other Fangmon's claws broke after striking Ryudamon's helm, and the little dragon smirked as he saw the wolf howl and wail, staring at its broken paw with tears running down its cruel face.

"Wait, I could have sworn I heard that Strikedramon claim there was a Mammothmon out here. Dang it, if it was lying it's going to throw of your whole training regimen!"

"**Freezing Breath!**"

Coming out from the side of the pub with no windows, Mammothmon surprised the two with a blast of cold ice breath, smacking Ryudamon with ice shards while simply knocking Hayate on his side. Getting up and dusting himself off, Hayate pointed at the gigantic Digimon and mouthed a one word command.

"Go."

Complying, Ryudamon ran up and jumped up towards Mammothmon's face, opening his mouth as he did.

"**Katana Attack!**"

"**Freezing Breath!**"

The katana launched from Ryudamon's mouth flew backwards and clipped its owner, along with more ice shards as the small dragon fell back to the ground, in front of a now charging Mammothmon.

"**Tusk Crusher!**"

The tusk went deep into Ryudamon's belly, causing the little dragon to cry out in pain as he was launched past his standing Tamer, who didn't bother to look at him as he went by, and landing in a heap on the floor.

Hayate sighed and nursed his brow, not satisfied with the battle so far.

"Am I really going to have to digivolve you just to get decent results? I was hoping to go at least 30 battle here before needing to do so, but apparently I can't count on you for nothing. Why can't I just use my MetalGreymon?"

Taking out his Digivice from his pocket, which similar to Akiko's was not a D-Arc, he brought out a red chip with a flame symbol on it and inserted it into his Digivice.

**Program Activate! Fire Applied!**

With this, Ryudamon started to glow a little red, like the auras seen in Shounen fighting mangas. Not willing the bet it all on the chance that his partner now was going to be competent, Hayate raised his Digivice into the air and cried out a command.

"Activate command 1. Ryudamon, digivolve now!"

The Digivice shimmered, and Ryudamon ran towards the Mammothmon once more, but instead of an egg covering him while he changed, he started spinning in place, almost like a break-dancing fighter character in a fighting game might do before leaping into the air.

Ryudamon…digivolve to…**Ginryumon!**

"You think stretching a few inches is going to make a difference? You're still just a Champion! **Freezing Breath!**"

"**Armor Piercing Blade!**"

* * *

><p><span>FanAuthor's Note<span>: There, it's out. Next one will be whenever I can get to it, but hopefully soon.


	16. Chapter 16: DragonBeast War Part 3

Disclaimer: Still don't think I own Digimon. Wait, let me check…nope, the rights to broadcast and distribute Digimon in the States still belongs to Saban. Pity.

FanAuthor's Note: …wow, it's been a while since I had time to update. I'd apologize, but I'm not that nice.

But the next chapter will in fact be soon. Well, we'll see.

Chapter 16: Dragon/Beast War Part 3

* * *

><p>ROM Forest Grand Hall, 1 hour left.

The inside of the Grand Hall was mostly vines and leaves covering the walls and ceiling, with some carved out stones serving as tables and old tree stumps acting as seats. The few bits of proper furniture were located in WereGarurumon's War Room, in which the three Tamers and Shotaro Murakami where located with their host. WereGarurumon was looking rather pleased with himself, even with the team's limited amount of time left to stay in the Digital World. Pointing to red dot on the map displayed on his table, the werewolf Digimon spoke.

"When you lot come back, I need you to head over to java City, located in the DLC Territory. There are rumors that the Dramon have unearthed one of the armors of the Spirits of Light, belonging to the ancestors of the Garurumon line of Digimon. They can't access its power due to being Dragons and Dinosaurs, but they'll keep it for themselves just to spite us if they manage to completely uncover it."

Asami viewed the map, noticing how close to the border java City was to Beast Digimon territory.

"So you want us to head over there and take it from them?"

"Yes I do. Don't worry, I won't be sending you in alone."

"We can't risk you losing the armors to the Scale-heads."

WereGarurumon shot a look at Blossomon, who quieted down and started to sulk.

"2 squads of Turuiemon and 3 Renamon will accompany you on your mission, as well as weasel-pants-"

"Please stop calling me that."

Shotaro shivered a little as WereGarurumon looked towards him.

"I'll quit calling you "weasel-pants", weasel-pants, when you make up for losing the Digi-Eggs of Friendship and Sincerity."

Sheepishly Shotaro bowed his head in shame, embarrassed to have had that brought up in front of his new acquaintances. Asami noticed Colin's attitude was still as unnaturally cold as it was in the clearing, but whenever he caught Asami looking his way he forced a smile to try and pretend he was okay. _We're going to have a talk once he dismisses us, don't you think you're in the clear._

"Alright, we can do that, no problem. Will you let us talk to Shin now?"

Blossomon opened its mouth to start and protest against the idea, but WereGarurumon held up his paw and spoke instead.

"Yes, he's being watched in a small hut near the Renamon Den. He won't be going off with you on any adventures anytime soon."

"We didn't expect him to be."

"Just being clear. Oh, since you might be a bit low on supplies, go visit the Gargomon stall in the village before you pitch up your tents and log off. Once you get back I'm sending you straight away on your mission."

Not liking his attitude, but nodding in agreement, Asami spoke for her group.

"Got it. Will do."

"Good to hear. Now I got some things to attend to, so any questions you have about your mission you can ask the Renamon now or as you're going. You're dismissed."

Walking out through the hanging leaves that acted as a door to the back of the War Room, WereGarurumon left them, with Blossomon trailing close behind. Dmitri immediately turned towards Colin, looking quite annoyed.

"What the hell was with that stunt you pulled earlier?! What were you thinking, that you could just take on an Ultimate with your bare hands?!"

Colin said nothing, further frustrating Dmitri, but before he could say anything else Asami cut him off.

"Enough! It's done, there's nothing we can do right now to change our situation. We just have to survive a week doing that wolf's bidding and we'll figure out what to do after that."

"This is assuming that he'll just let us go after a week. I wouldn't trust that Digimon if he was the last existing intelligent life form in existence."

"I don't trust him either, but I do believe that he's not dumb enough to kill Shin and risk losing our _willing_ support, and I trust your pal Lucky to have a plan for us before the week is even half way through."

On cue, their resident hacker spoke up in their heads, sounding touched by Asami's words.

"You…you have faith in me? Oh joy, the gang finally appreciates my efforts!"

…he might be hamming it up a bit though.

* * *

><p>ROM Forest, 50 minutes left.

The gang left the War Room, heading back to the Den where their partners were recuperating. Shotaro and Kudamon were following them, not having much else to do as it would seem and the appeared to want to get to know their new travelling companions a bit better.

"So what was the File Island you guys came from like?"

Seeing that neither one of her teammates seemed to be in a talking mood, Asami answered for them.

"The Digimon were okay, the Tamers were you typical online assholes, and the Wild Digimon were brutal; you had to spend half you deck just to match them, and then go through it twice with weak codes to finish them off. How was your island?"

"Eh, more the same, though the worst of it was dealing with MegaSeadramon for three days."

This got a bit of Colin's attention, though he remained silent still. Dmitri on the other hand responded similarly to Asami.

"Whoa, you took on an Ultimate for three days?"

Shotaro was taken aback by their praise, though he quickly realized that they were getting the wrong impression, and tried to set them right.

"Oh no, I'm not some badass or anything, what I meant was that it took three days because all of us were freaking under-leveled. He's like one of those event bosses in WOW that requires hours of your time to take down, except with the time limit of 5 hours we'd end up always getting just a minute away from taking him down, only for all our time to run out and all of us repeatedly getting booted out of the game early. And of course he goes off and heals himself off of slain Digimon while we're gone. Not that my old group cared about the slaughtered Digimon, they were just annoyed MegaSeadramon kept healing whenever we were away."

"Yeah, you can't help having those kinds of people here. Heck, we were like that a bit before we realized the truth. Some of us-"

Asami looked specifically at Dmitri while saying this, who looked away a little ashamed.

"-were more callous about it than others. Still though, that's pretty cool; I mean at least you helped take him down."

"Barely, Reppamon just tickled him with his attacks. No offense buddy."

"None taken, I just rather we didn't talk about that event."

"Right, those two."

Asami tilted her head in confusion, wondering what the two were going on about.

"Huh, who are you talking about?"

"Let's just say there are some over-powered players online, and they're not like us with the whole "Digimon are sentient' mentality."

"Any chance they're on the Beast/Plant side?"

"Very slim, and by that I mean 0 chance."

"Great…"

Heading inside the Renamon Den, the three were greeted with their healthy looking, slightly happier partners. Well, Asami saw Kotemon swinging his shinai and testing his arm, to which she ran over and hugged him, the little lizard not resisting and closing his eyes happily in her embrace. Dmitri saw Candlemon still lying back on a bed, though he smiled weakly as a Renamon continued to run her glowing palms over his body. Maul, on the other hand…

"Am I interrupting something?"

Prior to Colin sticking his head through the curtains to see how Kumamon was doing, the little bear was sitting on the red-veiled Renamon's lap, letting her pet his naked head as his hat lay on the chair next to them. His eyes were closed and he hummed happily as the Renamon stroked his head, singing some sort of song (Colin didn't recognize the language) soothingly to the little bear. As soon as Maul opened his eyes and saw that Colin had come in, he quickly grabbed his hat, placed back on his head (backwards, of course), and jumped to his feet, trying to act like Colin hadn't already seen him.

"What? No, of course not. I'm all good and ready to go, so let's go!"

Kumamon made to move past Colin, but he was stopped by the boy's hand, who looked down at his partner with a serious look on his face.

"Some things have happened while you were healing; we need to talk."

"Yes Colin, we do."

Closing his eyes, Colin knew he couldn't avoid the topic forever, so he turned to head back out the other side of the curtain, motioning for Maul to follow him. Asami held up a hand in response.

"Just you and me, Maul and Kotemon can wait here."

Nodding, Colin followed Asami outside, not knowing what her mood exactly was. Funny, considering the topic of their conversation was going to be about his own odd mood.

"Colin, what exactly was that all about? You need to tell me now if this is going to be a problem again later."

Seeing that she was taking his assault on WereGarurumon more seriously than he had thought she would, Colin started to feel bad about making her worry like this. She sounded like a coach thinking about benching a player, but he knew that what was going on between them it was more than that.

"Sorry about that Asami, I promise I won't pull something like that again."

"Don't give me "sorry"; you charged at an Ultimate-level Digimon and actually tried to fight him! Even you know how powerful those Digimon are, you rode on the back of one back on File Island! Why would go and pull a stunt like that, especially when we could have talked our way out of the situation?!"

"Asami, there was no getting out of working for him, not unless you want to try and work for the Dramon instead. He was going to try and force or trick us into throwing in our lot with him, so I wanted to make sure he recognized that I wasn't his pawn, with or without Maul by my side."

Asami glared at him for a split second, before running up and trying to punch him square in the face. Colin prepared himself for that reaction and caught her first blow with one hand, though she broke free and managed to get him the second time round. He just let that one go, knowing she was right to be angry with him.

"You did all that just for some stupid "macho" display of independence?! You could have been injured, let alone booted out of the game! What would happen to Maul if you were deleted?! Do you even know what happens to a Digimon that's lost it's partner, especially one that isn't supported by MAGAMI hardware anymore?! Why would you be that stupi-"

Before she could finish her rant, Colin pulled her in for a kiss, quieting her for half a minute. She pulled away, still glaring at him, though her look had softened afterwards. Colin looked at her with more warmth in his eyes than earlier.

"It wasn't just some display of strength; it was to gauge how badly he needs us. He could have done all that you mentioned to me, but you had to have also noticed how desperately he was trying to appease his crowd and win us over."

"Yeah I noticed."

"I knew there was some risk, but I doubt he'd take out a Tamer, let alone in front of everyone before he dealt with Shin. The only way to deal with guys like that is to force him to show his hand early, otherwise he'll be playing you instead."

"You sound like you've dealt with people like him before."

"…yeah, you could say that."

Asami could see there was more to that story, but decided not to push it right now.

"I'm still mad at you."

"You'd be strange if you weren't mad with me."

"Oh, is that right?"

"Didn't say you wouldn't still be hot."

"Nice try."

A small smile appeared on her face, though she turned away before Colin could see it. Heading back into the Den, she motioned for Kotemon to line up behind her as she came to address one of the Renamon.

"How much do we owe you for taking care of our partner?"

The Renamon held up a paw, shaking her head.

"Nothing, we heal all those who make it here for free, so long as they are not enemies of our forest or our ways."

_Considering how some of these Digimon react to seeing Kotemon and Candlemon, I'm surprised that somehow __**doesn't**__ include us._

Taking the Digimon's paw and shaking it in thanks, Asami called for her team (and Shotaro) to gather around her.

"Alright, it's likely going to be around 2:30 in a few minutes, and then we're going to have to log out."

She was still unaware that both Dmitri and Colin **need** to log out or suffer the pain Colin had before, and while they'd be sure to tell her eventually, neither of them were sure how much trust to place in Shotaro at the moment by letting him know now.

"We all need to resupply on Weak Codes and Power Charges, as well as finding a safe place to pitch up our tents and save, away from Digimon that have a problem with Kotemon and Candlemon."

Shotaro spoke up, eager to contribute to the group.

"Considering half the Digimon here are still pissed with me being unable to save those two Digi-Eggs that WereGarurumon mentioned earlier, I already have a perfect spot hidden away, if you guys don't mind sharing."

Sharing a quick look with her team, all of whom nodded, though Dmitri was a little hesitant to do so, Asami agreed and smiled at Shotaro.

"Thanks Shotaro, that means a lot. So all that's left is to get our items, try to see Shin quickly and then pitch up our tents."

All of them nodded, and with that they moved out of the Renamon Den towards Gargomon's stall, which just like WereGarurumon had said was only a few feet away. Gargomon was bending over into a box, looking for something. Hearing Dmitri cough politely in wait for him to attend them, he got out of the box, dusting himself off as he did and turned to greet them.

"Hey there guys, what can I get'cha?"

"Just some refills on our Power Charges and Weak Codes, please."

The Gargomon looked disheartened.

"Is that all, just some refills? I got some really nice weapons for your partners, even the swordsman over there."

"Thank you for not immediately referring to me as "lizard" or "scale-head"."

"Ah, no problem, don't let the others get to yah. Most of them seem to have forgotten how great things were when all our tribes got along. So what will it be guys?"

"Just Power Charges and Weak Codes for now, we're in a hurry."

Gargomon sighed, but relented.

"Maybe we'll stop by after our mission tomorrow."

The rabbit's ears perked up when he heard this, realizing who Asami's group was.

"Ah, you're that lot who came in an hour ago, the one with the human boy crazy enough to challenge WereGarurumon."

"That's us."

Asami rib-shot Colin while saying this, smiling innocently and with her eyes closed like a cat anime character the whole time.

Chuckling at the site, Gargomon brought up a pop-up menu of the items and transferred them over, before Dmitri had even deposited bits for them.

"But we haven't paid yet."

"It's on the house, that scene early was hysterical. I don't think WereGarurumon actually thought you would land a blow on him, let alone actually hurt him a bit."

Smiling, Colin replied.

"When in doubt, go for the eye. Most things hate being poked in the eye."

"Ain't that the truth?"

"Please don't encourage him."

"Well in fairness, most things would squash whatever poked them in the eye."

"Traitor," muttered Colin, though in a playful manner.

Waving at the Tamers as they went their way, Gargomon smiled at the sight of the four humans.

"Well, they'll certainly make things a whole lot more interesting around here."

* * *

><p>ROM Forest, Taskbar Waterfall, 30 minutes left.

The three Tamers had followed Shotaro into a cave on the outskirts of the village, still within its walls, and on the other side of the cave found themselves emerging from a waterfall, looking down into a pool of water similar to what you'd typically see a medieval character in a movie using the bathe in while out in a forest like the one they were. They were impressed by the view, though Dmitri seemed rather tired and quickly focused more on where exactly to pitch up.

"We can take in the view later. Shotaro, where exactly to you suggest we set up."

Pointing over to where his own tent was already made, orange with smoke coming out of a foldable chimney on the top, Shotaro responded.

"Well I'm posted over there, but if you guys want your own space there's plenty on either side of the pool to choose from."

Viewing their options, Asami and Colin noticed a dry looking spot over on the left of the pool, opposite of where Shotaro was already pitched, while Dmitri saw a nice patch clear of grass closer to where their new friend's items lay, an ideal spot to make a fire place (just to make Candlemon feel at home). They silently went off in the direction of their intended spots, though both Dmitri and Shotaro noticed the other two headed in the same direction. Shotaro stifled a giggle, while Dmitri rolled his eyes and continued on his way. The other two didn't notice that they were headed for the same general location until they had reached the bottom of the stony layout of the waterfall's base and were walking on the grassy shoreline together.

"Oh, you're headed for-"

"No no, if you want to set up here I'll just-"

Both of their partners were starting to have an understanding of the awkwardness growing between them now, and while Kotemon seemed to be growing tired of it, Maul took this as an opportunity to tease his partner mercilessly.

"Mistress, I hardly think that having a separate tent a few feet across from your mate is as huge a matter as you're making it out to be."

"Yeah Colin, don't you want to be all kissy-kissy with Asami? Mu-mu-mu"

The little bear proceeded to make mushy sounds and puff his cheeks and lips with his paws, until Colin brought a fist down on his head, somewhat playfully.

"You're teasing is literally at grade-school level, you're just embarrassing yourself."

"And yet, you responded equally just like a little kid. Guess you're not so different, huh?"

Colin was taken a little aback by his partner's comeback, and rewarded him with a harsh noogie, though he was nice enough to try and keep the bear's cap in place while doing so. Asami meanwhile was objecting to Kotemon's choice of words.

"Colin's not my mate, he's just my boyfriend!"

"What's a 'boyfriend', Mistress? Are boys not allowed to be simple friends with girls where you're from?"

"Well no, they…well sometimes, it's complicated, but that's not the point. Please don't use the term mate, it feels to…"

"Suggestive?"

Asami shared a look with Colin, as if going over in her head whether or not that's the word she was looking for.

"I guess. Look, I like him a lot, I do, but…why am I even discussing this? Kotemon, just please don't describe us like that."

"I meant no offense, Mis-Asami."

"I know you didn't. And thank you for using my name; I thought you were over the whole 'mistress' thing."

"Old habit."

Sighing, Asami pulled up her D-Arc and opened up her menu, scrolling towards the tent/save option. Hitting it, her tent planted itself in the ground, a little bundle resembling a sleeping bag lying on the outside of the tent. Colin disengaged from rough-housing with Kumamon and did the same, the random object spawning besides his tent being an axe lodged in a tree stump.

Over on the other side of the pool the two could see that Dmitri had finished pitching his tent, and waved over to them that he was done. He and Asami made towards the cave entrance under the waterfall, while Colin lagged behind a bit, trying to contact Lucky.

"Lucky, you there?"

"Why yes I am. What a surprise, being asked for twice by you guys within an hour, especially by you."

"Will you be able to pull me out when the time runs out, now that the tent's set up, or will I have to dash back to the tent to avoid that…unpleasantness from earlier."

He had ignored Lucky's comment, and the hacker understood why. He wasn't too proud of the effects he had neglected to correct in his make-shift VR terminal, nor was he eager to experience Colin's pent-up wrath should he absent-mindedly forget to log the boy out when his time is drawing near.

"Yes, though I could pull you out at any time. Don't worry though, the tent still counts as a saving spot for you, even with this bootleg terminal you're in."

"You're sure?"

"Look, even if it doesn't register your save, I can hack you where you want to go…mostly."

"Thought you could only do that on File Island."

"Well yeah, I know File Island, there's like a thousand copies of the damn thing. Server's just the one, huge area, tons of places I've yet to get a map or image of yet. Still though, I should be able to get you where you need to be in an instant, if you don't mind taking in the sights that is."

"How'd you get an image of File Island's layout in the first place?"

"You mean besides the anime and video games?"

Colin sweatdropped upon realizing what a stupid question that was. _Duh, of course he'd know what's what and where the important stuff on File Island is, any real Digimon fan would._

"Colin, you okay back there?"

Colin snapped out of his private conversation with Lucky to hear Dmitri addressing him.

"Oh yeah, I was just talking to Lu-"

Dmitri gave a quick motion with his hand to keep quiet, and Colin realized he meant he didn't want him spilling to Shotaro that they were associated with a hacker, let alone Lucky Mouse. Colin quickly changed his story.

"-ittle Maul here, he's still trying to tease me, little punk."

"What, I'm not doing anythi-"

"What's that, you want more noogies?! Coming right up pal!"

The other three Tamers looked back at the comical scene of Colin and Maul head-locking each other and exchanging a flurry of harsh noogies, Maul confused and annoyed by the extra helping of fists to the skull. Shotaro looked on in confusion, scratching the back of his head as he did.

"Is he normally this violent with his partner?"

"Eh, more or less. He means well."

"If you say so."

* * *

><p>ROM Forest, Processing Pit, 15 minutes left.

Arriving back in the village, the four Tamers asked around for where Shin would be held, many of the Digimon not giving them a direct answer and either responding with how they felt he deserved his incarceration, or trying to spit in the Tamer's direction, usually resulting with either Kotemon or Kumamon reacting negatively. Eventually they bumped into Piximon, who was more than willing to help them.

"Shin's over in the Processing Pit, it's where we keep all our prisoners. Don't worry, he's being treated alright, as much as can be expected for someone in his position."

"You mean someone half of you guys deem a traitor?"

"Trust me, traitors have an easier time in the Pits than the Dramons. Not that I approve of what goes on in there, but it's true none the less."

Leading them to the edge of a cliff, the Tamers saw tons of Dragon and Dinosaur Digimon trapped in holes of various sizes, all of them reaching up just to the trapped Digimon's neck, where there was a circle of bamboo spears pointing at them from all sides. They were bound by multiple vines and twigs, with some of the vines having a flower attached to them that let out some sort of paralyzing pheromone for the more aggressive prisoners. Close to the cliff was the Pit's most recent prisoner, Shin, in a similar hole though one lacking the stun flower. Looking up to see the Tamers, he sighed and signaled for them to look lower.

"I'm down here you three!"

Finding him, the Tamers made for the staircase that led below, only to be briefly bared by Caturamon, the other Deva that had restrained Shin earlier.

"I know why you're here, but I'm afraid I'm going to have you leave now."

"Not before we speak to Shin, we're not."

Caturamon growled at them, using his size to try and intimidate them into leaving.

"You are not speaking to Leomon now. When WereGarurumon deems it fit for you to-"

Kotemon, seeing the dangerous glint returning to Colin's eyes, spoke up before he could act or Asami could curse out the Ultimate-level Digimon.

"WereGarurumon-dono knows we'd be here, and told us it was okay. We're honoring our deal with him, now honor his by letting us pass."

"I didn't hear of this,"

"Well who did you receive orders from?"

"That is not your concern!"

"It was Blossomon, wasn't it?"

Caturamon glared and Piximon, who didn't flinch at all under his gaze, but instead smirked in a knowing way.

"You should know by now that that girl already had some personal baggage with Shin, even before he was accused of anything. Come on, the kids aren't going to rabbit off with him, just let them have their 5 minutes with him and they'll get going."

"…if he get's loose-"

"It's on my head, I know, I know."

Stepping out of the way, Caturamon eyed each of the Tamers as they walked past. When Shotaro made a move for the stairs, Caturamon held a paw out, blocking his path.

"Not you, you don't have any prior business with him as it is."

"But I want to-"

"The less you deal with that lion, the better. Stay."

Not wanting to push the matter any further, Shotaro stayed behind with Piximon, Kudamon patting his head in an attempt to make it better.

Asami looked down at her partner, but before she could speak Kotemon just motioned backwards towards Colin, and Asami got why he had spoken up earlier. Nodding in thanks, the two remained quiet as they proceeded down the steps.

Shin was somewhat happy to see the six before him, though he hid it well behind a face of disappoint. At least it would make sense that he'd be happy to see them, right?

"So, you three ignore my instructions, and I end up tied down in some Devimon-awful pit while all of you literally agree to become WereGarurumon's puppets. Was it worth it?"

Asami spoke before Dmitri could engage in his usual banter with the lion.

"You're pissed, we get it, but at least this way we can get information on where the armors are being held."

"Sure, if WereGarurumon feels like actually telling you where they really are."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh nothing, let me not speak out against your new leader, he obviously knows what he's doing. I'm just the dumb fool who took you where you needed to be and even helped restore some people's partners, but what do I know?"

Colin wasn't quite in the mood to be taking this abuse from Shin, even if they deserved it somewhat.

"Look Shin, we're trying to make up for earlier, alright? Can you quit with the attitude?"

"Excuse me? I have an attitude? I'm stuck in a prison, and you went and made all of our time here worse by attacking WereGarurumon and submitting to his command! I think I have the right to be a bit annoyed, don't you think?!"

"We only have to work with him-"

"FOR him!"

"WITH him, for a week!"

"It always starts off being a week, then its two weeks, then a whole month! It won't be that simple!"

"Well what was your plan, huh? Hide about in the forest, avoiding every Digimon that came our way, and ignore all pleas for help while we hope that we stub our toe on one of the armors of yours?!"

"Better than taking on an Ultimate-level Digimon as a human. Do tell, what exactly was your game plan?! I mean what were you thinki-"

"ENOUGH!"

The two stopped arguing at the sound of Asami's extremely pissed off voice. Shin actually looked a little startled by her sudden outburst.

"Arguing about the mess we're in won't change the fact that we are currently IN the mess. Shin, I already went over it with Colin, he WON'T be pulling something like that again. Colin, we made a mistake earlier, it's that simple."

Colin looked like he was going to protest, but Asami held up a hand and kept him from starting.

"Don't even start with me, it was a mistake. They had help coming, and they were training to deal with what was coming for them. We know that now, so yes, we should see it as a mistake. Shin hasn't led us wrong before, and any mishaps that have happened have been on us! So quit making excuses and own up to it. That goes for you too, Dmitri!"

"What did I-"

A look between the two told Dmitri to shut his lip and nod, like a boy does with his enraged mother.

"Shin, we will make this right and get you out of here, but for now, hang in there and trust in us. Have we done so horribly before that you can't do that now?"

The lion stayed quiet, if only for a second, before responding.

"No, I trusted you six for a reason. As annoyed as I am right now, I know you guys will make the best of the situation."

"Thank you, Shin. Alright guys, let's get going."

She moved her hand towards her mounted D-Arc, but Kotemon tugged at her shorts to get her attention.

"I would like to say a few words before you go, Asami."

"Sure, just don't take too long."

Nodding, the small lizard faced Shin.

"When we are finished serving WereGarurumon-dono, if it's not too much trouble, could you teach me more about this continent we are on? I'd like to know more about the place we currently inhabit."

Smiling, Shin managed to nod without scratching himself on the spears around him.

"Sure Kotemon, though you can come visit me earlier than that, whenever you're done with a mission. I got time, as you can see."

"Thank you."

He then looked up at Asami, who patted his head and went on with bringing up the menu on her D-Arc, selecting the log-out feature and being enveloped in a beam of light. Looking over at Colin, she let go a small smile while tapping her D-Arc, before rising up in the beam with her partner besides her.

Looking down at his D-Arc, Colin saw a message sent to him from Asami, reading "_Meet up like the first time, 4 o'clock?_" Smiling, he looked up to see Dmitri already logging out, clearly not having anything to say to Leomon before heading out. He was just about to do the same, when Shin called for Maul.

"Just a moment, Colin. Maul, could you come here please."

Surprised that Shin wanted something from him, the cub Digimon walked over to the pit.

"It might be presuming a lot at this point, but I have a feeling that WereGarurumon might let me out of here at some point, though he won't necessarily free me. If that happens, I'd like for you to train under me a bit."

"Really; why do you wanna do that?"

"You're a decent fighter, Maul, I saw that during the fight on Mirror Lake. The problem you have, as well as your friends Kotemon and Candlemon, is that you really too much on the cards Colin provides you."

"Hey!"

"No offense is meant, Colin, but you must recognize by now that you've had to start off most of your battle with a weapon card for Maul instead of relying solely on his power."

"Well yeah, but that' because I don't want to risk losing him."

"Yeah, and I like those power-ups, there fun to use."

Shin smiled a bit at Kumamon's answer, though he remained stern in his reasoning.

"Even still, you should work to be able to hold yourself in battle with minimal support from Colin. Not that the cards should be abandoned outright, but it's better to not have to go through so many weak codes in one battle, is it not?"

Colin could agree to that point.

"Sure would help with saving on bits."

Maul scratched his head at all of this, getting the idea but still confused as to where this sudden decision came from.

"Well alright, but Kotemon and Candlemon can train with me too, right?"

"Of course, but in all fairness you need it more."

Maul was about to speak up in protest, but Colin knelt down and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Buddy, remember what ended up happening on Mirror Lake."

Freezing up a bit, the cub remembered his earlier demise, and shook himself out of the memory as hard as he could.

"Okay, okay, I'll train. Just don't bring that up again, okay?"

"Not a problem. Ready to go now?"

"Oh right, we should leave before that thing from before happens, right?"

"Yeah, _that_ thing. How about we don't mention that again either; deal?"

Nodding, the little bear waved goodbye to Shin as Colin logged them out, ascending in their own beam of light towards the canopy of the forest.

* * *

><p>Lucky's Hideout, 2:30 p.m.

"Welcome back, for what it's worth."

"Yeah, sure."

Looking around, Colin saw that Dmitri had already gone.

"Where'd Dmitri run off to?"

"He's out getting some hardware; we might need it later."

"What are you two planning?"

"Hopefully, nothing you need to know about.'

"Hopefully?"

"As in you won't be in the amount of trouble we'll likely be in if such a device becomes necessary."

Seeing the alarmed look on Colin's face, Lucky Mouse quickly reassured him.

"It's nothing dangerous, at least to anyone besides me and Dmitri if we don't build it right. Look, just let it be a surprise for later, okay?"

Knowing it was better to just drop the subject, Colin walked towards the door, before realizing that it would be probably best if he took a sneakier route.

"Do you have your kidnap van with you, or did Dmitri take it for his 'errands'?"

"It's not a kidnapping van! And Yes, Dmitri took it, why?"

"Well how do you propose I get back to the Cyber Sheep without being tailed then?"

"Eh, I'll just call Sara to pick you up."

"Um, could you not?"

"Why not?"

"I kind of…"

"Oh dear God, what did you say to her?"

"Nothing, it's just that I'm seeing someone right now, and after that stunt you pulled it would be rather awkward to be in a car with her for the drive over. Besides, isn't she working now?"

"Awww, you and Asami made up! That's so sweet!"

Colin started to glare at him a bit, to which Lucky quickly backed down and continued on with the other topic.

"Anyway she still kind of owes me for heroic deeds done in years past, so a little break to come pick you up is no problem. Don't be a little baby, Sara isn't the jealous type."

Sighing, Colin shook his head and went over to a foldable chair placed in the corner, waiting for his ride to get there.

* * *

><p> Cyber Sheep Floor 7, 3:05

"Sorry for taking a while, the place has been swarming with cops since your roommate got outed."

"Not a problem, I still got plenty of time to get changed before I head out."

"Oh?"

Sara glanced at Colin teasingly, who started to scratch the back of his head due to feeling awkward.

"Uh yeah, I have another date with Asami today at 4, so I need to start getting ready for that."

"Oooh, a second date already. What are you planning on wearing?"

"I don't know, I think I got a few shirts and pants I haven't worn yet stuffed down in my suitcase."

"Let me see."

"No, you really don't have to-"

"Hush, let me take a look."

Shuffling through one of the suitcases Colin had, Sara's face shifted between intrigued, disappointed, rather annoyed, before finally settling on pleased as she pulled out a red button-downed shirt, a black Red Lantern T-shirt, and a pair of black jeans.

"It would have helped if most of your cloths weren't silver colored. They lose their charm real fast."

Colin dropped his head, muttering in an annoyed voice.

"Don't recall asking for your opinion on how to dress."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, what was what?"

"That's what I thought. Here, go change in the bathroom and come out when you're done."

"As opposed to going in to change and what? Fleeing out the 7th floor window?"

"Cute; shut up and go change."

A few minutes later, Colin emerged with the articles of clothing that were selected, though he still had the metal bracelet on his arm, which he caressed as if to assure himself there was still something silver-ish on his person.

"There, now don't you look nice."

"Don't I always?"

"Yes, but changing colors every once in a while can't hurt."

"Whatever. But thank you anyway, even though you really didn't need to trouble yourself."

"…but that makes it more fun to do so."

Colin blushed a little as Sara seductively eyed him. She started a laugh a little and broke of eye contact, turning towards the door.

"Well, my break is almost over, so I best get back to the reception desk. Having a fun time out."

Colin smiled sheepishly as she shut the door, thinking about how odd having this date would be considering all that's happened and all that's currently going on.

_So, second date with Asami. First secret date, since she can't really be seen with me by people who know her. And all of this after getting forcefully drafted into some mangy were-mutt's army and getting Shin captured by a bunch of former friends who really like to have him flayed for whatever he did. Let's try to not make this awkward, shall we Colin?_

Deciding that he'd finished mentally preparing himself, and checking the time left to him, Colin moved towards the door, ready to put his mind at ease for at least an hour.

* * *

><p> Holla Back! Bakery, W 54th Street, 4:12

After meeting up the same place as last time, Asami and Colin decided to just visit just one spot on their second date, and after patrolling the streets a bit for an interesting spot, they settled upon a nearby cake store, since it had seats inside as well as wi-fi, and served a few healthy meals alongside their various deserts. Asami was quietly enjoying a chocolate mousse while Colin was experimenting with a strawberry and melon panna cotta.

"How's your panna cotta?"

"Is that how you say it? It's rather nice, actually. Thanks for pointing it out for me."

"Not a problem."

"And your mousse?"

"Haven't I told you? I'm a bit of a chocolate addict."

"Oh really?"

"Yup, it's taking all of my willpower not to wolf down on this right in front of everyone."

"Go ahead, I won't judge you."

"It's not you I'm worried about, Colin. Besides, it's not dignified to let loose on one's food in public."

"I'm not saying spray the contents across the table; just don't be afraid to take more than itty bitty spoonful's each bite."

Smiling mischievously, Asami scooped up the tiny bit of chocolate mousse she could without taking just a fine line, and slowly brought the spoon to her mouth, all the while locking eyes with Colin defiantly.

"Oh okay, if you want to deprive yourself you go right ahead."

Laughing, the two of them smiled as they went through their treats. Finishing too soon for their liking, they waited for the waiter to come by with the receipt, during so their attitudes started to become more serious.

"When do you think you can slip away to Lucky's place?"

"I could just head there after this; I'll likely be on at about 6 or so."

"Make it 5, otherwise, the hotel staff might be suspicious of you coming back at around 11."

"Like coming back at 10 is that much better."

"11's closer to midnight, and being up that late usually implies that you were more than just caught up in something and lost track of time."

"I doubt the hotel staff is keeping tabs on me, I have no background like Dmitri's that worth exploring."

"Still, your original reason for staying there is, so far as they're aware, currently over and done with. If you bought another Virtual Pet everything would be fine, so far as having an alibi and excuse to stay beyond the agreed contract with MAGAMI, but-"

"But I'd be dividing what time I have between going through File Island again just to legally make it over to the continent with you guys, and I'd be hauling around a likely artificial Digimon partner that wasn't Maul. Even if I did get another sentient Digimon, that's kind of be like cheating on Maul."

"Well we can't have that, can we?"

"No, no we cannot."

Asami smiled slightly and took a sip her remaining tea, but Colin had the feeling that that last comment wasn't just playfully agreeing about treating his Digimon properly. _I would never be the bastard to cheat on a girl, but something tells me I should be careful about who I even __**look**__ at when I'm around Asami._

"Asami, why don't you come with me when I head over to Lucky's?"

Asami gave him a confused look as she set down her tea cup.

"Why, something the matter?"

"Well no, but shouldn't you be logging on with us over there, considering you're also a wanted player after what you said happened at Popsicle Town?"

"…you don't need to worry about that. One of the perks of being a rich man's daughter, is that occasionally you can bully people into letting things slide."

"Oh?"

"MAGAMI officials tried to confiscate the terminal I have in the suite I'm staying in, until I name dropped my father, and basically held them responsible for giving me a 'faulty' Digimon in the first place."

"That worked?"

"There's still an in-game bounty on my head, but MAGAMI won't be personally bothering me again. So thank you, Colin, really, but it won't be necessary. Besides, I don't think I really want to meet Lucky in real life."

"Oh, so just me and Dmitri should suffer such a fate?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

They laughed as their receipt came, Colin waving away Asami's hand as he took out a credit card to pay for meal.

"One of the perks of being raised by a strict mother: you know how to treat your dates, no matter how well off they are."

"Ahhh, such a gentleman."

"Well when you say it like that it seems rather mocking."

"No, it really cute. Thanks."

Signing on the dotted line and leaving his card in the receipt folder, Colin returned the conversation to what strategy they should plan out.

"So that jackass wants us to head over to this java City when we head back. Do you remember where exactly he expected us to meet him?"

Narrowing her eyes a bit, so as to make it clear she's still annoyed by his earlier actions, Asami replied.

"I'm pretty sure he'd want us to meet up in front of the Grand Hall, as he has 2 squads that are also going on this mission with us. He likely wants to make a show of us 'joining forces' with him."

"The squads sound more like escorts than anything else, to me."

"Probably, though he isn't about to just let some new Tamers who worked with Shin go after something important and not have people he trusts around to secure the armors."

"He mentioned some other Digimon were going to be joining us, I think."

"Yeah, who were they? Oh, it was those Renamon that healed our partners. Not really familiar with that type of Digimon."

"Oh?"

"They were from the concept art of that season that was cancelled. Digimon Tamers."

"Ah. A lot of stuff from that show seems to keep finding its way back into situations that involve us."

"Yeah it does. So anyway Colin, what else do we need to do when we log back on?"

"I don't know, you're the leader. I guess try not to draw the attention of any Dramon forces that might be in our way?"

Sighing, feeling annoyed about having to come up with a plan on her own.

"Well if I recall, WereGarurumon suggested we talk to one of the Renamon more if we want more details on what exactly we're expected to do. However, something tells me they're just going to give us a barebones explanation."

"You think the Renamon are close to WereGarurumon?"

"I don't know, but if he's directing us to them for more answers, chances are they'll just tell us only what he wants us to know."

"Which may not be a lot."

"No, definitely not a lot. If we go off of Shin's feeling towards him, he'll give us only enough information so as to try and keep us reliant on him."

"So like what, only mention that about 5 Dramon are guarding a building, only to find out their all Mega-level?"

"Something like that yeah; although I doubt he'd send us on a suicide mission just yet."

"I'm not so sure…"

Getting back his credit card, the two got up from their table and moved outside of the bakery onto the sidewalk.

"So you're going straight back to Lucky's spot, right?"

"Yeah yeah, I got time."

"I'm just saying, don't get distracted and lose track of time."

"Let's just hope Dmitri's there as well, otherwise all of this pushing for me to sprint back is only half useful if I have to wait on him."

"Where did he get off to?"

"I don't know, some errand for Lucky."

Both of them took a minute to consider what that might mean, when one remembers that both Dmitri and Lucky are wanted hackers.

"I suddenly realized I really don't want to know whatever it is he was up to."

Asami nodded in agreement.

"Me neither."

Taking each other's hands briefly, they stared into each other's eyes before letting go and walking their separate ways.

"See you in a few, Colin."

"I'll be waiting, Asami."

* * *

><p> Lucky's Hideout, 4:59 p.m.

"You're back early."

Colin walked in, the sound of Sara's car driving off onto the road behind him, to find Dmitri and Lucky Mouse setting down the last of three large pods, like ones a person would see in a sci-fi movie involving clones or captured aliens. Colin tried his best not to look horrifyingly alarmed.

"Guys, what's going on?"

"Remember the hardware I told you I need Dmitri to snag?"

"You know what? Don't wanna know. I ain't seen nothing."

The other two shrugged, as if relieved to not have to tell Colin what the pods were for. Rising slowly and soothing his back, as apparently he hadn't set the pod down properly, Lucky looked over at Colin again, who was placing a satchel down on an empty work table.

"Again, you're back early."

"Well yeah, dates don't have to take a day and a half."

"I take it boss-lady wants to get right back into the action?"

"It'll at least be 10 when we get back; I can get plenty of sleep then."

Dmitri shrugged, being okay with the plan.

"Sure, I don't have anything else planned for today."

"Alright, you two know what to do."

* * *

><p>The ROM Forest, outside the Grand Hall, 1st Hour

Asami and Kotemon joined the other 4 only 5 minutes after they had dropped in. WereGarurumon was waiting there with an assortment of Monzaemon, Gatomon, and Floramon, as well as the Turuiemon squads and 3 Renamon that were meant to accompany them. Of the Renamon assembled, one of them was the red-veiled Renamon, who waved in Maul's direction. The little bear pulled his cap down over his eyes to hide the fact that he was blushing, though Colin caught this out of the corner of his eye.

_My my, what's going on here?_

"Thank you all for coming, as today's mission is of the utmost importance. These fou-"

WereGarurumon stopped his speech, realizing that Shotaro and Kudamon were not with the other three Tamers. He was, however, dashing over from the off to the left as fast as he could.

"Sorry, I'm here, I'm here!"

The werewolf Digimon growled lowly in annoyance, and some of the other Digimon were laughing at the sight, while others stared on in disgust. Asami cradled her face out of exhaustion.

"Oh we're off to a find start, aren't we?"

"As I was saying, these four have agreed to retrieve our relics, the Spirits of Light, from the clutches of those Dramon bastards!"

This got an uproar of applause, as well as a round of cursing and hissing towards the Dramon, some Digimon even shouting insults towards Kotemon.

"I don't care who you're with, scale-head! You're next on my list!"

"You get kicked out by your fellow slithers, you damn lizard?! No one cares, you're not welcomed here!'

Colin shot a dark glare in the direction of those taunts, but Asami got him before he could say anything and spoke.

"I don't see any of you cowards moving to get back **your** lost relic. Unless you're suddenly willing to get off your lazy asses and retrieve yourself, shut your useless mouths. Or I'll shut them for you."

This quieted some of the dissenters, though quite a few of them laughed at the idea of a human hurting them, especially after Colin's display earlier.

WereGarurumon was the one to silence the rest of them.

"They are working with us: all of them. Anyone who gives the Kotemon a hard time will have to deal with me."

Suddenly the entire crowd was silenced, like a class full of naughty children.

"Now back to business. To get to the DLC Territory, you're going to have to go through a _little-bit_ of the ISP Rookery's Territory."

Colin raised an eyebrow at this.

"I take it we won't exactly be welcome in the Rookery?"

A faint wolfish grim showed up on WereGarurumon's face, as he turned to answer the boy.

"Well, the Bird Digimon have chosen to stay out of the conflict for the most part, which in their minds includes banning travel by either side through their land."

"Makes sense, though. If they are seen allowing one side to pass by unopposed, the other side will take that as them siding with their enemy."

Some of the other Digimon murmured in response to Dmitri's comment, but WereGarurumon stroked his chin, as if thinking on this.

"You know what, that's probably what they're up to. Never thought of that angle before."

Colin resisted the urge to laugh at the wolf, since even he had figured that out for himself, and he doesn't see himself as cautious or distrustful of Dmitri. A glance from Asami helped keep him civil.

"I can lead us to where we're required to go, Lord WereGarurumon."

Colin was disturbed by the unusually happy and (he was hoping he was wrong with interpreting this) endearing look WereGarurumon gave the red-veiled Renamon, who was the one to offer to be the group's guide.

"My dear, I really wish you'd just stay behind on this mission."

"Nonsense; everyone is expected to do some part in our effort to reclaim our relics, and anything I can do is just fine."

"You already heal our wounded, and look after the happiness of our brethren. Why do you need to head into the battlefield?"

Colin couldn't help himself.

"I'm sorry, is _Lord_ WereGarurumon trying to play favorites? Are some Digimon _more equal_ than others?"

The shot of hatred WereGarurumon sent Colin's way nearly made the boy regret his taunting, but getting that reaction made it worth it for him. Asami spoke up before anything got worse.

"Ms. Renamon, we would **happily** accept your guidance. In fact, we should get going right now!"

Dragging Colin by his ear, Asami headed towards an opening in the forest, the Renamon walking alongside the two of them. Maul shyly tagged behind his dragged partner, while Kotemon followed behind. Dmitri briefly locked eyes with the still mad WereGarurumon, flashed a fake smile, and trailed after his teammates, Candlemon hopping right alongside him. Shotaro wasn't about to stay behind and risk WereGarurumon's fully focused wrath, so he quickly followed in kind. The 2 squads of Turuiemon and the remaining Renamon shrugged their shoulders, and went after the rather odd group of Tamers.

* * *

><p>DLC Territory

"No, you can't take him."

"But Kaneko-chan, he'd be such an experience boost for Ryudamon."

"Oh sure, if you could actually kill SuperStarmon. Because no matter how over-leveled your partner is, SuperStarmon is designed to be taken on only by a party of six. Anyone attempting with less is going to find themselves in a world of pain."

The person who spoke this time wasn't Aiko, but rather a child sized black lizard, with a rather bored look on its face and a notebook strapped around his neck by a string. Aiko almost seemed to smile at his response, though the universe doubts smiling is possible for her. Hayate crouched down and scowled, as the three of them looked down on the fortified ranch. He half-heartedly flicked a stone in its general direction.

"BlackGuilmon, for an NPC you're surprising a massive downer. Normally I don't even bother responding to you guys."

"Yes, and I've appreciated the long stretches of silence that brings."

"Mouthy little guy aren't you?"

"When I feel like it, yes."

Aiko seemed to have had enough of letting the lizard speak for her.

"If you're so desperate for a shot at SuperStarmon, some of the other players might be willing to help you with an impromptu raid."

"I don't work with people, Aiko. They always slow me down."

She rolled her eyes at this, annoyed by her boyfriend's hard-headiness in this matter.

"Then why not make a challenge out of it?"

Hayate perked up a bit upon hearing BlackGuilmon's suggestion.

"What do you have in mind?"

"There's going to be some Beast Army Tamers coming this way. They'll be on their own mission, but if you could challenge them to try and take out SuperStarmon before you do…"

"Would they add up to six in total?"

"If you work with your mate here, yes."

Aiko shot the lizard a glare, and BlackGuilmon made a note not to call human romantic partners 'mates" again.

"Get a bunch of Beast-side suckers to attack SuperStarmon with me? So long as they can keep up, this might actually be fun."

* * *

><p>FanAuthor's Note: We're back to action next chapter. I'll try to get it out to you guys soon.<p> 


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